My dear friend and IHM Sister Margaret Brennan recently published her memoir, What Was There for Me Once (2009 Novalis) and last week National Catholic Reporter published a review of the book called “A life of change and renewal” (February 19, 2010).

In Sister Margaret’s book, we find not just a memoir but a compelling and insightful story. Kilian McDonnell, OSB, remarks, “Here is a story of a young girl, sister, novice mistress, elementary and high school teacher, president of the congregation, and university professor in the midst of rapid social change.” Sister Margaret “had a major part to play in developing women’s religious, academic, and spiritual lives in the second half of the 20th century.”

Here are a few quotes from NCR’s review of the book:

This preconciliar church experience was fulfilling and made sense to her — and she embraced it. Of religious life as it approached Vatican II, she writes: “While I was entirely happy in the traditional model of religious life as it had been lived for hundreds of years, I was open to the coming changes.”

The Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary were among those religious who were quick to internalize the Vatican documents and the new theologians appearing on the scene. “To use the framework of [Jesuit theologian] Bernard Lonergan, I would say that for me the change from the traditional model of religious life to the Vatican II model was a process of conversion. In involved a real change in worldview, in horizon.”

“To keep the question of God — and God’s questions — high on the horizon of the world is worth the gifts of our lives,” Brennan says. And, without a doubt, her memoir attests to this purpose.

There are many things I love about this book — most especially to hear the voice of one of my sisters, one who was instrumental in my own vocation and religious life. I also love the way she writes with grace and a confidence in the providence of God. Sister Margaret also fills a huge gap in the Catholic and popular imagination about nuns and sisters. Kilian McDonnell notes this well writing that the book takes us through “the passage typical of many women’s religious apostolic communities from monastic models to religious forms more in keeping with their original active charism.”

* * *

Join us for prayer this evening during our live Praying with the Sisters podcast at 6 p.m. CST at http://aNunsLife.org/live .

This week is an important one in the church calendar. We celebrate Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the season of Lent in two days. A wonderful Catholic tradition is to celebrate Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. So in light of the advent of Mardi Gras, I’m sharing a picture from a gathering of IHM Sisters from Monroe, Scranton, and Immaculata, and Oblate Sisters of Providence. In true Philly style we had the Mummers join us for one of our celebrations. The Mummers remind me of the art, performance, and regalia that we often see during Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans.

In honor of Mardi Gras and the beginning of Lent, A Nun’s Life will be hosting a special Community Podcast tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. CST (your timezone). For more information, please see our blog post on Mardi Gras Podcast.

FP004 Feature Podcast on Consecrated Life with IHM Sisters recorded live on February 7, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include World Day for Consecrated Life, vocations, discernment, Catholic sisters and nuns, prayer, and more.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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Today we celebrated World Day for Consecrated Life by partnering with the IHM Vocations team to offer this hour-long podcast on vocations, discernment, and the lives of Catholic sisters today. We were delighted to be joined by IHM Sisters Carol Quigley, Michele Denton, Joyce Durosko, and Mary Bea Keeley.

PS019 Praying with the Sisters podcast recorded live on February 4, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Special guest Sister Nancy Lee Smith, IHM. Scripture readings: 1 Chronicles 29:10-13, Mark 6:7-13. Feast day: Saint Jane of Valoi. M – Th 6 p.m.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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This Sunday marks the World Day for Consecrated Life, a day instituted by Pope John Paul II in 1997 to thank God for the gift of consecrated life and to let people know about this way of life.

To celebrate, A Nun’s Life Ministry is partnering with the IHM Sisters (of which Sister Maxine and I are both members) to host an hour-long live podcast on vocations, religious life, discerning a call, and all sorts of things! We’ll be joined by Sister Mary Bea Keeley, IHM, and Sister Carol Quigley, IHM, and perhaps more!

Join us at 4 p.m. CST (your timezone) on Sunday, February 7, 2010, here at http://anunslife.org/LIVE. We have a lively chat room that will be happening simultaneous to the podcast.

If you have questions or comments for us regarding vocations, IHM life, prayer, or pretty much anything else, please leave a message for us at our voicemail feedback line: 1-888-703-4732. Messages may be played on the air!

And in the spirit of the World Day for Consecrated Life, we invite you to do your part to promote vocations. We have a number of resources over at IHM Calling blog to help promote vocations.

So what are you going to do this week to promote vocations?

PS018 Praying with the Sisters podcast recorded live on February 2, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Scripture readings: Psalm 24 and Luke 2:22-40. Feast day: Presentation of Jesus in the temple. Monday – Thursday 6 p.m. CST.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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PS017 Praying with the Sisters podcast recorded live on February 1, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Scripture readings: Psalm 3 and Mark 5:1-20. Feast day: Saint Brigid of Ireland. Monday – Thursday 6 p.m. CST.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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PS016 Praying with the Sisters podcast recorded live on January 28, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Scripture readings: Psalm 132 and Mark 4:21-25. Feast day: Saint Thomas Aquinas. Monday – Thursday 6 p.m. CST.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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PS015 Praying with the Sisters podcast recorded live on January 27, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Scripture readings: Psalm 89 and Mark 4:1-20. Feast day: Saint Angela Merici. Monday – Thursday 6 p.m. CST.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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Listen to AS011 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on January 22, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry with guest iconographer Sister Nancy Lee Smith, IHM. Topics include non-Catholics becoming nuns, realizing you may have a calling, and relationships.

Sister Nancy Lee Smith, IHM, is an iconographer and spoke with us about her ministry as well as her own calling to religious life. You can find out more about Sister Nancy and her ministry at Saint Joseph Studio.

Questions from listeners included:

• How important is having past relationships to discerning a call to religious life?
• How did you feel when you first started to have thoughts about becoming a nun? How did you react?
• What if you long to find love still, but still think that religious life an option?
• Is it possible to become a nun if I haven’t been Catholic my whole life?
• Are there specific rules for writing icons? What is it like to be an iconographer’s apprentice?

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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Join us today for the Ask Sister podcast, a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between! We have a special guest: Sister Nancy Lee Smith, IHM, who is an iconographer and works at Saint Joseph Studio.

Ask Sister Podcast – Episode 011
Visit ANunsLife.org/live
Today
6 p.m. Central Time (your timezone)

We’ve received a few questions already and welcome additional ones. You can offer your questions in any number of ways:

• comment below
• email us any time before the podcast
• comment in the chat room during a live show

In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Listen to PS011 Praying with the Sisters podcast recorded live on January 20, 2010. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Scripture readings: Psalm 144:1-10 and Mark 3:1-6. Feast day: Saint Eustochium Calafato. Monday – Thursday 6 p.m. CST.

Special guests include Sister Joyce Durosko, IHM, and Sister Terry Milne, IHM.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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It is December 8 and that means it’s the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, one of the high holy days for us as Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters. Here are a couple of posts about this feast day, one from my dear friend and sister Margaret Brennan, IHM, called Lily of My Heart and the other is one I wrote for the Young Women and Catholicism blog.

For today, I have chosen an icon from Jesuit Father William McNichols, SJ. Though he has one of the Immaculate Conception, I chose this icon called The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart because it is stunning and speaks to me of this Advent season — the coming of God in our midst, the dawn of a new day.

The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart icon by Fr. William McNichols, SJ

How does this icon speak to you? What words of prayer or reflection or action does it inspire in you?

Happy feast day to you!

* * *

Join A Nun’s Life community for prayer today at 6 p.m. CST
(your time zone).

In response to yesterday’s post on Advent and compassion, my nun Sister Rose Carmel shared a bit of wisdom that she had just received:

Here are three questions Fr. Helfrich gave us to ask ourselves for Advent. I’d like to share it with all our friends on the post.

1. What have you given up on? (Not “What are you giving up?”)
2. What are you looking forward to?
3. What are you about? (The question asked three men hauling wheelbarrows. The first says “Can’t you see I’m hauling rocks?!” The second: “I’m earning food for my wife and children.” The third: “I’m building a cathedral.”)

Blessings on all for a fruitful Advent.

* * *

Join A Nun’s Life community for prayer at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone). Tomorrow is the Ask Sister Podcast. If you have questions for us, please email them to us at sister (@) anunslife (.) org.

Much can be said (and written) about seeking God’s blessings and seeking God’s ways. Countless questions about God and directed to God have been uttered — what is the meaning in life, my life? how can I give my life to God? what is God like? where is God? does God hear me, notice me?

Sometimes, when pursuing one of these Big Questions, we stumble upon blessings that we did not intentionally seek. For example, way back when, I spent time discerning how God was calling me to use my gifts in the world as a Catholic sister. I was happily committed in my life as a sister but was still trying to find my place in the world in regards to form or context of ministry. Through prayer, conversations with my sisters, retreat, and simply trying new things, I began moving toward a kind of “answer” to what I was seeking. In the midst of all that discernment, that “figuring out” where God was leading me, there were some unexpected blessings.

Like blogging.

I started a simple little blog more as a hobby and to learn more about Internet technologies. I had no expectations for the blog other than it would help me learn a few tricks. I certainly did not expect that I would be working full-time with the A Nun’s Life website and community some 3+ years later! The blog was one of those blessings I stumbled upon while I was trying to pursue this other question of what work I wanted to commit myself to as an IHM Sister. It seemed irrelevant at the time, a mere distraction, yet it was and continues to be a great blessing that has taken me, and my original question, to a new place.

What “blessing stumbled upon” have you had in life? In what ways is God calling you to not necessarily answer your original question but simply to live out of the new place in which you find yourself?

Footnote: Thoughts today inspired by Teresa of Avila (p. 62) and my nun Sister Maryfran Barber, IHM.

* * *

Join Sister Maxine, the A Nun’s Life community, and me for Praying with the Sisters podcast at 6 p.m. Central Time tonight (your time zone).

We are back after an extraordinary time home at our IHM Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan. In the midst of congregational meetings, liturgy and prayer, and socializing (we did occasionally get sleep too!), Sister Maxine and I were podcasting live from the motherhouse! Each day we had sisters join us on the air with the finale being Saturday night with Special Podcast – IHM Sisters Unplugged! We invited four brave sisters to join us on the air for a live podcast and interaction with you our online audience. In addition, we invited sisters to be present as our very first live audience! We packed the place and were so delighted to share the experience with our nuns!

So it is fitting on this Monday to celebrate our nuns with some Nunday photos courtesy of Sister Joyce Durosko, IHM, our dear friend and ministry partner!

Sister Julie (left) explains to the live audience how podcasting live works while Sister Maxine (right) briefs Sisters Marge Polys and Susan Mahalik (Go Phillies!) on what they’ll be doing.

Just a few of the many nuns who came to be part of the live “convent studio” audience! Sisters Theresa Koernke and Anne Crane are in the audience and took part in the second part of the podcast. The warm setting is the community room of the IHM Sisters who live on second floor, A wing. We are grateful for their hospitality and encouragement!

Be sure to listen to the podcast. Here’s a recording:

We talked about life as Catholic sisters, ministry, how each sister discovered and responded to her vocation, prayer, nuns swimming, dealing with doubt in the spiritual life, anchorites and the eremitical life, IHM charism and mission, entering a religious community, and lots of other things!

Sister Maxine and I are back in our own convent studio and will join you tonight for prayer at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone).

And we’ll be back with more NUNDAY photos and stories coming soon!

Sister Maxine and I are delighted to be home at the IHM Motherhouse. Many of our sisters from near and far are interested in what we do and so we invited them to be part of a podcast tonight! We’d love for you to meet them and for them to meet you too.

Please join us tonight at 6:30 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) which is 7:30 p.m. here in Monroe, Michigan.

Location? Right here at http://anunslife.org/live … we’ll be on air for about an hour, give or take.

We’ll hear from our sisters about their life (how they became a sister, their ministry, and prayer) and take your questions about our life as IHM sisters.

Any preliminary thoughts, questions, or things you’d like us to talk about?

Look forward to seeing you tonight!

Post-show UPDATE: Here’s the recording!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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Today is Ask Sister Day! Sister Maxine and I receive lots of questions each week about our life as Catholic sisters as well as many other nun-related questions. We take questions about community, prayer, and ministry, and pretty much everything except the convent sink! Let us know what’s on your mind! You can do so in any number of ways:

• comment below on the day of the Ask Sister podcast
• email us at “sister AT anunslife DOT org” any time before an Ask Sister podcast
• comment in the chat room during a live show
• calling in during a live show

In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Visit ANunsLife.org/live
Today
12 p.m. Central Time (your timezone)

Here are a few of the questions we already have for today:

• Do most nuns have a college degree? Do communities recommend getting a degree first then entering the convent?
• A lot of orders only have old people left in them? How would a young sister deal with that, especially if patience for the elderly wasn’t her best trait!

I am pleased to have Sister Joyce Durosko, IHM, join me today as my guest co-host. Sister Maxine has a meeting but will try to pop in sometime during the broadcast.

We look forward to talking with you. And check out our previously recorded Ask Sister podcasts.

I am delighted to announce that my community, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters of Monroe, Michigan — are offering a Come & See Weekend for women who are attracted to our way of life and want to learn more about becoming an IHM Sister.

The weekend is October 23-25 and it will be hosted by Sister Mary Bea, IHM Vocation Director, and myself. All the info is below. If you have any questions or wonderings, feel free to contact Sister Mary Bea or to email me (be sure to add in the @ and . symbols of my email).

This weekend might be for you or someone you know if …

• you are a woman around 18-55 years of age who is attracted to religious life and wants to learn more about IHM Sisters
• you feel a longing to deepen your relationship with God and want to express this in a life-long commitment
• you’ve met an IHM Sister and thought, Hey, she’s pretty cool. I’d like my life to also have that same sense of joy, prayerfulness, and desire to serve others.
• you know someone who seems to have a calling to religious life and would be at home with the IHM Sisters life and mission

IHM Come and See
October 23-25, 2009
Friday 7 p.m. to Sunday 12:30 p.m.

Come to:

• Join in formal and reflective prayer with the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters
• Learn important tools and dimensions of a fruitful discernment
• Discover our IHM history, passion for justice, and our mission to care for creation
• Spend time in our “green” Motherhouse
• Share your stories with our wisdom figures and newly vowed sisters

Register now:

• Contact Sister Mary Bea, IHM Vocation Director, at 734-240-9820 or via email
• We can welcome up to 10 women for the Come & See Weekend
• Please register by October 16, 2009

Location:

IHM Motherhouse
610 West Elm Avenue
Monroe, Michigan 48162
www.ihmsisters.org

***

Join Sister Maxine and me for prayer today
at 12:00 p.m. noon Central Time (UTC-5)
at anunslife.org/live

This past weekend I was home in Monroe at our IHM Motherhouse for a gathering of sisters from the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the 3 Immaculate Heart of Mary communities (Immaculata, Scranton, and my community of Monroe). This is the fourth year that I have been part of this group. I’ve written in the past about what the group is like (see posts from 2006 and 2007) so today on Nunday I thought I’d share some photos of our weekend gathering in Monroe, Michigan, at our IHM Motherhouse. Many thanks to Sister Fran Fasolka, IHM (Scranton) for the beautiful photos.

Sister Mary Anne Bolger, IHM (Immaculata) enjoying desert in the Ice Cream Room. Independent Dairy ice cream is a big-time local favorite!

The OSP IHM Sisters of the Round Table

Sister Jill Kress, IHM (Monroe) Novice, Sister Clarice Proctor, OSP, Sister Fran Fasolka, IHM (Scranton) visiting "the Barn", the IHM House of Prayer

OSP IHM Board of Directors 2009 at the IHM Motherhouse, Monroe, Michigan

Be sure to check out our new OSP IHM Website created by Sister Fran Fasolka, IHM (Scranton), and Sister Kathy Burns, IHM (Scranton).

And don’t forget to join Sister Maxine and I today — and every weekday — at anunslife.org/live for a live podcast. There’s a link in the top menu labeled LIVE SHOWS.

Today’s post continues a conversation from the last few days about Sister Sandra Schneiders’ writing. Sister Sandra has written and presented much on Religious Life. To each endeavor she brings herself and the variety of “coordinates” from which she speaks: a Catholic woman, an IHM Sister, an internationally recognized scholar in Scripture and in Religious Life, Professor Emerita at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley.

When addressing topic it’s not always easy (or desirable) for an author to speak only from one “coordinate”. In this context we’re talking about the specific issue of Religious Life, which is my lived experience and also the lived experience of my IHM Sister Sandra. It’s not always easy or even possible to separate oneself from the subject of inquiry.

Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson, known as “Peggy” here at A Nun’s Life, has graciously given us permission to post an essay she wrote on this topic. Click on the link below to view a PDF of her essay.

Concentric Circles of Sisterhood

Introduction to Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Monroe, Michigan (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997)

by Margaret Susan Thompson, PhD

Associate Professor of History and Political Science at Maxwell School of Syracuse University

A note about the use of “feminist” in Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary … The IHM congregation has a long history of what today we would call “feminism.” The word has many different meanings. It’s rooted in the belief that all people deserve respect, equality, and justice. Many women around the world lack these things and suffer as a result. In this regard, feminists are women and men who desire a world where the fullness of life is available to all people. “Feminism” also refers to a perspective. For much of recorded history, the experience of women was articulated by men. Feminists are women who articulate their own experience as women, and this can yield a perspective on events, such as the birth of a child or the decision to enter religious life, that may be very different from the perspective of men.

There’s more information about the feminist perspective in Dr. Thompson’s introduction to Building Sisterhood.

The National Catholic Reporter has a new article posted by Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, called Discerning Ministerial Religious Life Today (September 11, 2009). In this article, Sister Sandra helps explain why it is that all nuns do not wear a habit, live in a cloister, or pray the horarium. Essentially Sister Sandra is filling a gap in people’s experience of women religious. Many people have had experience of or heard about sisters who live a monastic form of religious life and sisters who live an apostolic orministerial form of religious life. But it’s not always easy to explain how we got the two or how the two are similar and how they are dissimilar.

This essay is also a kind of continuation of a discussion on religious life by Sister Sandra in recent publications: the essay Why they stay(ed), the personal email that NCR published, We’ve given birth to a new form of religious life, and the address she gave to the IHM Congregation, God So Loved the World … Ministerial Religious Life in 2009.

In this latest piece, Sister Sandra, a member of my own IHM community, responds to the question, What is ‘apostolic Religious Life’? which, as she notes, has been answered though often times with misinformation. The question appears in various forms, often around three main questions about lifestyle:

“Is culturally conspicuous, uniform garb (habit), fixed group dwelling from which members exit only by necessity and from which non-members are excluded (enclosure, cloister), and a daily schedule including shared meals, work, and especially the oral recitation of prescribed texts and vocal prayers, e.g., divine office, litanies, at several fixed times a day (horarium) essential to Catholic Religious Life as such?” The short answer is “no.”

The article goes on to provide a longer answer contextualized within history, scripture and theology.

This is a very important piece of writing and I recommend that you take a read, especially if you are considering religious life or know someone who is. Use it as a starting point to explore some of the issues and insights that Sister Sandra has raised. Whether or not you agree with what she has written, she has done a good job at naming the significant issues that can create confusion and misinformation.

Discerning Ministerial Religious Life Today
(National Catholic Reporter, September 11, 2009)

Please read the article and then join in the conversation below. (NB: The conversation actually got started on another post here so I moved those comment over here.)

Question from Veronica …

I am a 55 year old practising Catholic. Am married, 2 children are now grown up and living with my husband. Thoughts of pursuing becoming a nun has come and go. Now I feel that there is a need for me to do something, where do I go from here?

Dear Veronica, Many thanks for writing in. You are not alone! I’ve run into many women who have similar wonderings about their life and what they can do to tend to this attraction to religious life.

Becoming a Catholic sister or nun may not be an option for you due to your being currently married and your age. Since the process of becoming a nun takes about 7 years, I’m not sure that religious communities would consider the possibility unless you’ve already had a relationship with them.

Still, your attraction and your desires are real and are a calling from God. Each of us is called in some way to dedicate ourselves to God.

You might want to consider becoming an Associate or Affiliate — a lay woman (married/single) who shares in the mission and spirituality of the community but is not under vows. Lay Affiliates or Associates can also be men.  Not all congregations have associates, and those that do vary in the formation process and the degree to which associates can be involved in the life of the congregation. For a specific example of a congregation’s associate program check out the the Monroe IHM page on IHM Associates.

No matter what age you are or what state of life, there are things you can do and ways to be of service. I encourage you to think about your gifts and talents and about what you would absolutely love to do. There are so many people in need and organizations that would love your help. There are also so many ways to deepen your life of prayer and to grow closer to God. Whether in ministry or prayer, look for something that has a sense of community so that you are supported and encouraged in your work and in your life.

Let me know if what kinds of things are of interest to you in terms of prayer, ministry, and community. That way I’ll be able to offer some more specific suggestions to help.

Blessings, Veronica, and to all who have similar wonderings.

Sister Sandra Schneiders’ essay on U.S. Women Religious and the Apostolic Visitation is a must-read essay for all Catholics, all people interested in Catholic sisters and nuns and/or in U.S. history, and definitely all those discerning religious life.

The National Catholic Reporter has just published an essay by Sister Sandra Sandra Schneiders, IHM, called Why They Stay(ed) (NCR, August 17, 2009). The essay addresses two sets of questions concerning U.S. women religious that are “roiling the waters” in and outside the church today:

1. Why are religious disturbed about the apostolic visitation?
2. What is the real motivation for this investigation?

What follows is the most lucid discussions on the topic of the Visitation that I’ve encountered. Not only does Sister Sandra address how the Apostolic Visitation is being received by many U.S. sisters and nuns as well as many priests, men religious, and lay people and why it’s disturbing, but she explains what the situation of women religious is and has been since around the Second Vatican Council.

I have to re-read the essay and will offer more thoughts. For now just want to make sure you have seen it. Please bring your questions, comments, and thoughts about this to the comment section below.

I am home at the IHM Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan. Today we have our summer “community days”. All of my sisters come home for days of prayer, study, and discernment about our life together and how God is continuing to call us to live the liberating mission of Jesus. Then on Saturday we have our big community celebration of our Jubilarians, the sisters who celebrate the 25th, 60th and 75th anniversary of their entering the community.

I am thrilled to be home and to see everyone. The whole house is buzzing with good energy and excitement about being together. That is one thing I absolutely love about being an IHM Sister. We cherish our time together, we like hanging out with one another. It energizes us and renews us as we then move back into our ministries.

I hope to post again this week but may be a bit challenging with all that’s going on here. I ask for your prayers and will try to check in when I can. Do continue the conversations started this week and last — some very good ones going on about Vocation Directors, Paul Rudnick’s infamous piece on nuns, and Spiritual Writing. Also don’t forget to tune into the Discussion Forum — you can follow the “live” conversation we had on Sunday and add your thoughts.

Blessings!

Sister Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM, has made public an important paper on Ministerial Religious Life. In the paper God So Loved the World … Ministerial Religious Life in 2009 Sister Sandra describes what Apostolic Religious Life is and how it is evolving (or has evolved) into what she has called Ministerial Religious Life.

Here’s my very brief outline of the paper — any inaccuracies here are mine and not Sister Sandra’s. It’s meant only to give you a sense of the topics in the paper and to encourage you to read the full paper. You really don’t want to miss it if you are at all interested in Religious Life.

Sister Sandra looks at the origins of Apostolic Religious Life (which “has had official canonical recognition since 1900 and existed for centuries before that”) and situates it both canonically (what does Canon Law say about this form of consecrated life) and ecclesiastically (how does Apostolic Religious Life as a lifeform fit within the structure of the Church).

She shows how the Apostolic Religious Life that is being lived today is still authentically religious life and at the same time “involves some very significant discontinuities with earlier understandings of enough of the constitutive dimensions of that life that it is really a new form in relation to traditional apostolic Congregations.” Two important aspects of this evolution are what Sister Sandra calls “the end of Religious Life as Total Institution” and the simultaneous “ministerial turn”. She looks at how both of these have affected our understanding and living out of the vows, community life, ministry, and public witness.

Once Sister Sandra has set the context she goes on to asks, “What has brought about this development and how do we interpret, evaluate, and appropriate it?” What follows is an excellent piece on the impact of the Second Vatican Council on Religious Life. She notes how “most Religious Congregations of women, especially in the developed world, did not read Perfectae Caritatis in isolation, as a kind of self-sufficient magna carta for renewal. They read it through the lenses of Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes.” Note: Perfectae Caritatis is the document on the renewal of Religious Life; Lumen Gentium is the document on the Church affirming the universal call to holiness of all the baptized; and Guadium et Spes is the document on the Church in the modern world.

Sister Sandra then looks at the development of a new theology of world and the development of a new spirituality of world as a result of the shifts and the ongoing urgings of the Holy Spirit. Finally, she articulates some of the implications of these developments for vowed Religious Life.

Sister Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM, is one of my nuns and a leader in the study of religious life and of biblical spirituality. This talk was originally presented at our IHM Motherhouse for the Sisters and Associates of my community.

Read God So Loved the World … Ministerial Religious Life in 2009 and let’s get a discussion going about this. It’s an excellent paper, a good read, and definitely worth reflecting on.

Catholic sisters and nuns live in community in a wide variety of ways. Often we only think of community as living under the same roof, that is in “the convent” or “the monastery” but community actually takes many forms. Simply living under the same roof does not make a community. Likewise, living singly does not mean you are living alone or without community.

Since I’ve been an IHM Sister, I’ve lived various configurations of physical proximity but in all of them have striven to live deeply our IHM community life. I’ve lived singly with few IHMs around me because of the demands of my ministry; I’ve lived with 5 other sisters; I’ve lived with one other sister; and I’ve lived on our Motherhouse campus with nuns everywhere! Each way of living calls forth different aspects of living community.

Because our community like many others is ministerial based, our choices for community life are necessarily diverse so that we can respond to people’s needs. I’ve been told stories about how our sisters years ago heard the news that babies in Korea were dying because there was no one to hold them in the orphanages. The infants needed human cuddling to live and to grow. Our mother superior immediately sent nuns to Korea to minister by “simply” holding the babies. Didn’t think about the fact that we had no convent there or that there were only a handful of nuns she could send. She saw the need and knew that we could help.

I’ve also been thinking about a friend of mine who is in the national guard. She is stationed hours away from her home and family. She lives singly on base and gets together with her family whenever possible. Though certainly a struggle, her marriage and family life is not any less real or authentic. It is now expressed in new and different ways.

Today’s world is full of so many ways to live community and family life. While some of us live this community through physical proximity, many of us also experience community and family in ways that go beyond this proximity. In what ways do you experience this kind of community or family life?

Nunday is back and to celebrate we have my own IHM Sister Sharon Holland. Sister Sharon is not only a legend, but a holy and gentle woman of God.

Sister Sharon, one of the first female lawyers to work at the Vatican, was recently presented with an award (a bronze statue created by sculptor Clay Enoch) from the Catholic Health Association (CHA) on April 23 in Rome. Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of CHA, presented the award, saying Sister Sharon was the association’s “greatest asset in Rome.”

The CHA Board of Trustees passed a resolution honoring Sister Sharon for her years of assistance to CHA and the U.S. health ministry at large. According to Ed Giganti, vice president of communications and marketing for the United States’ CHA, the board’s resolution proclaimed Sister Sharon “a champion of American religious congregations and their ministries” throughout her time in Rome.

Since 1988 Sister Sharon has worked as bureau chief of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life at the Vatican. In 2007 Sister Sharon was awarded the International Medal from St. John’s University in Rome. In the citation for that award , St. John’s called Sister Sharon one of the world’s leading canon lawyers and said she “models what is best about religious life.”

After getting word about Sister Sharon’s CHA award, journalist John L. Allen, a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and analyst for CNN and NPR, wrote, “Aside from being an accomplished canon lawyer and trailblazer for women at the Vatican, Holland is also a legend in religious life.” (source; hyperlinks mine)

Sister Sharon is retiring from her ministry in Rome and returning to Michigan this month.

Pictured: Lloyd H. Dean (CHA Board), Sister Carol Keehan, DC, and Sister Sharon Holland, IHM, holding the award.

I am happy to say that the Petri Dish Convent is no more. What we hoped was a fixable problem was really a massive mold problem that had made it’s way through cabinet wood, drywall, and wall studs. Not pretty. So on Saturday we moved into a new house that will serve us well and be a place of hospitality for visiting sisters and others. The last few weeks have been rather trying but there is light at the end of the tunnel (much better than mold), and we are looking forward to unpacking and getting back to our life and mission.

Regular A Nun’s Life posts (including Monday is Nunday posts) will return tomorrow!

In the meantime, here is today’s “mid-morning” reading (Terce) from the Liturgy of the Hours.

Sisters and brothers, be joyful. Try to grow perfect; help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
- 2 Corinthians 13:11

We have our first visiting nuns at the Petri Dish Convent. Both are our own IHM sisters — one came from Puerto Rico and the other from Monroe. They are on their way to the Giving Voice conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The conference is for women religious under 50 years of age. It’s a great opportunity to hang with young sisters from a variety of communities across the country. I was looking forward to going — especially to meeting Sister Susan Rose of Musings of a Discerning Woman — but given the petri dish situation, I need to stay back and figure out what our next steps are.

Even though Sister Maxine and I have had our hands full with realtors and rehabbers, Home Depot runs, sorting through boxes, etc., we LOVE having our sisters here with us. They are such a support to us, encouraging us as we work through these issues, praying with us, and eating and playing with us! We had the best time last night out at a pizzeria and then coming home to watch The Flying Nun on DVD (will write about that in future!!).

Their presence reminds me of the importance of “being with” others. It’s not “doing for” or “taking control of” but simply and powerfully “being with”.

It’s been a week since we opened the new convent. “New” merely refers to the fact that it’s new as a convent, but in actually it’s an old house with the normal and not-so-normal problems associated with old houses. Take the pipes for example. All corroded. Had to be replaced which delayed our ability to move in. Monday and Tuesday night we ended up with stuff in the truck and ourselves at a local hotel courtesy of the realtor. Moved in on Wednesday. Started cleaning on Thursday only to discover that the base of the lower kitchen cabinets was like a science experiment gone wrong with mold creeping up from the edges. Needless to say, it’s a mess and our move in experience is less than desirable. Still, it’s fixable and we love the house and neighborhood. As soon as the rehabbers get through replacing the offending cabinets, the convent will be in good shape.

As we work with the rehabbers, I am reminded of our IHM Sisters who in the 1930s oversaw the building of our 380,000 square foot building. I wonder how they did it all. We just have a small old house in need of rehab, but they had to start from scratch, put their vision into concrete — literally, and know enough about building, construction, electrical, plumbing, finances, environment, health care, residential living, etc. to build a home for our sisters and create a physical symbol of our IHM life. In just the last few days, I’ve learned a lot about this stuff, and I’ve also learned a bit about the guys working here like their family and why they like/dislike this kind of work, and for the young guys who cut our lawn, what their hopes and dreams are for their own futures.

True, our priority is fixing this place and getting rid the petri dish that is our kitchen, we also are about being present to people no matter where or how we meet them, even if we are the ones who are in need at the time. This is something I have taken always seen in my sisters, especially my nun Joyce who has such a beautiful way of working with people. She doesn’t see “a maintenance person” or “a secretary”, she sees a person full of dignity and light who is using her or his gifts, earning a living, supporting a family, ministering to others. Though shy by nature, I think always of Joyce when I encounter workers of any kind — and I remember to cherish them as she does and as Jesus shows us time and again in the Gospels.

How have you cherished a worker lately?

I have often heard Catholic sisters and nuns say, “Join the convent, see the world” because many of us do travel quite a bit for ministry and mission. Along with that comes the always pleasant task of actually moving. You know what I mean — boxes, tape, clutter, dust, lifting, moving, renting, changing, bubble wrap, exhaustion!

Moving also gives one the opportunity for self-reflection, to think about what one is attached to, how simply one lives, what facilitates community and mission, etc.

As you might suspect, I am in the process of moving — like right at this moment. My computer is the last to go. In an hour I will be picking up our 17′ rental truck (the experience of driving that thing in Chicago will probably make for an interesting blog post!) in order to move out of my current abode and to a new house with another IHM sister where we can live and offer hospitality to our IHM sisters and others.

Chloe the Convent Cat is coming along with us, and as you can see, she’s a bit self-reflective too.

We’ve done a great job at sorting and donating stuff. It’s so easy to accumulate “stuff” so I’m hoping to keep things simple. I feel better when I have less clutter, less stuff to be distracted by. After traveling so much, I realize that most of what I need I can toss in a backpack.

What have been your experiences of “move”? What does living simply mean for you?

A quote from the IHM tradition …

“She also serves
who sits and waits.”

What does this quote mean to you this day?

I am home in Monroe at our IHM Motherhouse. It’s a delightful day, the birds are chirping, the sky is blue, and so many budding trees and flowers! My nuns showed me a place in our cloister where a robin has taken up nest in the crook of tree. This morning I peeked in (you can look into the nest from the hallway window on the main floor) and saw the perfect, little blue eggs. Have not seen Mama Robin yet but I’m sure she was close by!

This weekend is our IHM Come and See, an opportunity for women to spend time with us who are discerning religious life. I’ve had the privilege of hanging out with one young woman since Wednesday getting to know her and showing her around. This afternoon Sister Maxine and I will be working on our 45 minutes of fame — an intro to and discussion about our founding charism and the story of how IHM came to be. Then tonight the women will come to our home and see what we are all about!

It’s kinda wild to do this Come and See because it reminds me of how it feels when I introduced a boyfriend to my friends or family. You want so much for them to love him and see the beauty in him that you see all the time! At the same time you want to let them come to know the guy in their own way. Sigh.

For now I’m off to hang out with my girl and maybe go for a walk and visit our iconographer’s studio!

Recently I was asked what the difference is between the IHM Sisters of Monroe, Michigan, and the IHM Sisters of Immaculata, Pennsylvania. There’s no easy answer to this, especially since there’s also a third IHM community, the IHM Sisters of Scranton, Pennsylvania, plus the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the original community of one of our IHM founders. So I’m throwing them all into the mix here too!

A little historical context first though — check out an earlier post OSP IHM: Nuns Who Rock in which I wrote about how our co-Founder Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin was originally an OSP Sister and how the IHM congregation became 3 separate communities.

I find it difficult to characterize how we are different because as an IHM Sister, I am overwhelmed (in the good sense) by our shared charism and our connections to one another and to our founders. The 3 IHM communities are like three siblings who were separated when they were young — their early, foundational years were shared, but then they each were in different places and so lived and expressed their original shared experience in different ways. Some of those ways were based on the geography and the Catholic culture in the area, the needs of the people and of the Church in that area, and of course the women whom the Spirit led to be part of that particular community.

So we have both similarities and differences. Honestly, the best way to get a sense of what we are like (similarities and differences) is to be with us. The facts (e.g. this one is in Monroe, this one Philadelphia, etc.) cannot come close to telling the whole story, and ultimately (especially if one is discerning religious life) you can tell which one “fits” you when your heart leaps for joy when you are with them.

The OSP IHM Timeline, a narrative of our histories, can tell the story way better than I can. In it, each community expresses who they are through the various periods (early history, Vatican II period, tody). The OSPIHM Timeline was made back in 2005 by an inter-congregational team that I was blessed to be part of. It’s pretty cool. Just click on the link below!

OSP IHM Timeline

A happy and blessed Monday of Holy Week to you! And, happy NUNDAY! Today’s photo of a Catholic sister comes from Discerninglife25. Here’s what she wrote:

This is Sister Laura Downing, a Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Immaculata, Pennsylvania. This is a picture of her taken at my Catholic High School in the Diocese of Raleigh, NC. Sister Laura teaches theology to freshman and sophomores, and she always has a vibrant joy, enthusiasm for teaching, and an attractive personality (not to mention a great sense of humor!).

My relation to Sister Laura is that though she is not my teacher, she is still my friend. She is always there to talk, even when she has flocks of kids sitting in her room (she is a very popular nun!). She even took me to her motherhouse, which was a very fun trip indeed. Overall, I say that Sister Laura is very down to Earth and knows how to have fun. She has certainly defined today’s nun very well indeed!

Thanks, Discerninglife25! What a wonderful portrait of Sister Laura.

Now since we’re talking about IHM, I wanted also to address a question from an earlier post about Immaculata IHMs and Monroe IHMs. But that will have to wait till tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Come and see is an invitation we hear in the Gospels addressed to people who feel an attraction to, people who are drawn by the Gospel and the lifestyle of Jesus. It’s an invitation that the Catholic Church echoes as it invites people to take a personal look at a call to follow Jesus through religious life.

Until you’ve had the opportunity to experience a religious community through individual sisters or brothers, at prayer, in ministry, or by interacting with a group of sisters or brothers, it can be difficult to get a feel for what religious life is like, and also to which particular community you are called.

My IHM community is hosting a “Come and See” weekend for women who are thinking about religious life and are attracted to the IHM life and mission.

“Come and See” Weekend

Date: May 1-3, 2009
Time: Friday 7 p.m. to Sunday 12:30 p.m.
Location: IHM Motherhouse, Monroe, Michigan

There will be opportunities to pray with my IHM nuns, chat with us, learn about us and about discernment, and just hang out with us.

For more information or to register, please contact Sister Mary Bea at 734-240-9820. And as always, feel free to contact me if you have any wonderings.

Sisterhood among Catholic sisters and nuns is a powerful, Spirit-filled experience. I’ve been thinking a lot about sisterhood after having been home at the IHM Motherhouse for a couple of days. I was with a group of sisters doing some planning for our community’s retreat/celebration days this summer. Throughout the meeting and at supper following our meeting I was overwhelmed with the bond of sisterhood. It’s something that I never even imagined prior to being an IHM Sister. It’s not easy to define or explain, but let me try to put words around what it feels like.

Sisterhood is …

• always having a home, a real home
• knowing that your nun has your back
• being part of something bigger than yourself, bigger than the sum total of individuals
• falling in love with God and mission, and falling in love with how God and mission are expressed in your sisters
• sharing the deepest things of the Spirit with another sister or group of sisters
• praying together, laughing together, grieving together, working together
• the sparkle in the eye of a sister that lets you know that all will be well
• mentoring one another in religious life, ministry, and prayer
• having a common history and shared core values
• daring and risking together for the sake of the Gospel
• becoming more yourself than ever
• relating to one another with great tenderness
• being in real, tangible community even when ministry takes you to away from your sisters
• holding all things in common with your sisters
• being held up by your sisters’ prayer when you can’t find the strength to pray
• having sisters in heaven who keep watch over us
• working through disagreements, misunderstandings, failings without forgetting that we belong to one another and to Christ
• being willing to lay down your life for your sister

When people ask me what it’s like to be a sister, how we are different from other people committed to God who pray and do good works, this is what I want them to experience, this sisterhood, this dynamic of how we are with one another which is incarnate in how we are with the world.

What else might you add? Sisterhood is …

It seems that almost every religious community that I’ve gotten to know has lived through a fire. Sometimes it’s their motherhouse or a big convent, other times it’s one of their schools or places of ministry. The Monroe IHM Sisters are no exception. In our collective memory is “The Fire”, a blaze that destroyed our college and academy.

Here’s how Sister Amata Miller, IHM, described it in “An Enterprise of Sisterhood: Building the IHM Motherhouse in the 1930s” (Building Sisterhood):

On 3 June 1929, a disastrous fire gutted St. Mary College and Academy in the southeastern Michigan city of Monroe. Though no one was injured, the destruction of the newly renovated building — housing their premier educational institution — was a crushing blow to the IHM congregation. Keeping all-night vigil at the site of the tragedy, and providing sandwiches and coffee to those who had come to help fight the blaze, were the two women who together would lead the IHM congregation through the rebuilding process: Sister Ruth Hankerd, who would become the general superior in 1930, and Sister Miriam Raymo, who would be her partner as congregational treasurer.

Sisters Ruth and Miriam decided to not only rebuild the academy, but to build a new Motherhouse, as the current one (located on the banks of the River Raisin) was a “jerry-built complex” that was “rapidly falling into decay”.

What is amazing about all this, is that this project of rebuilding not one but two major complexes happened in the midst of the Great Depression. Sister Amata notes that the building project was reportedly one of the largest going on in the country at the time with skilled tradesmen coming long distances to work on it. It took the care and remarkable business and financial savvy of Sisters Ruth and Miriam as well as the scrimping and saving of the entire IHM community to make it through those years. Even though it was a difficult period, we never missed a payment.

And the building, though recently renovated, continues to serve us well.

Thanks to our amazing IHM Archivist Donna Westley
for the info and photo!

In the last post Make My Heart Simple, a conversation started around the verse, “I will give glory to your name for ever, for your great kindness is upon me: you have rescued me from the deepest depths.” (Psalm 86).

Many of us have been or currently are in those “deepest depths” … that place where life takes a different, often tragic, turn that we did not expect or particularly want. A sudden major illness or disability ranks right up there in this regard. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I know this all too well having had breast cancer almost 7 years ago and having a tough recovery for that first year or so.

After the shock of finding out about having cancer or going deaf or whatever it may be, it can be difficult (understatement!) to get a handle on one’s thoughts and feelings. Fear, anger, guilt, grief, bitterness, vulnerability, sadness and questions like “why me?”, “what do I do?”, “why if …”, “how can I live like this?” …. all these things can all come rushing in on us and can feel like they are crushing us.

Then there’s the question of God. Where does God fit into this? Did God “will” me to get sick? Is God responsible for this? Can I get angry with God or  yell at God for this thing that has happened? Do my feelings of fear, anger, or bitterness mean that I don’t trust God? Will God be with me through this?

It is totally okay to have these feelings and questions. Life just took an unexpected turn and even if things turn out okay and are “back to normal”, what you have gone through does change you irrevocably. Even though it’s been 7 years since I had my first surgery and then got the “all clear”, I am still dealing with how my life has changed — having breast cancer made me rethink everything — my perspective on life, God, myself, relationships and the whole world. And yes, I was bitter about the whole affair. I was young, I had fallen in love with the IHM life and mission, I was active in ministry, and then SMACK! Cancer. After the shock and just getting through the things that needed to be done, I was able to feel more — to feel scared, bitter, and heart-broken. I never blamed God, as I don’t believe God gives us things that hurt us, but I did wonder if any good could come of this. How could I live with something that God didn’t want for me and I certainly didn’t want for me either? Was it possible — really and truly possible — for me to not only cope but to fully embrace this?

There is a great quote from one of our IHM founders, Louis Florent Gillet, CSsR, that is a guiding lights in my life, and it has come to embody how I see God at work even in the midst of my struggles:

“I began without thinking of the future of the work, leaving it to God alone to bless and make it prosper, if it were pleasing to God and useful for the good of others.”

The message of this quote helps me to move through the anger and the grief to a place where I can truly embrace the thing before me (in this case, cancer) and trust that God will make good come of it. Doesn’t mean that God willed the tragedy or that God or I condone it. It just means that even in the darkest, deepest depths, God is there and finds a way bring good to me and to others.

As I write this, I am very much mindful of the tragic death of Natasha Richardson, of the sudden death of one of my friends’ religious sister, and of my own nuns who are living through cancer. Please keep these women and their loved ones in your prayers.

From what or whom do you draw strength when you are in the deepest depths?

While in Monroe, Michigan, this past week, I had a chance to take some pictures of the IHM Motherhouse. Sister Jill had also taken some cool photos so I’m including some of hers as well.

Sister Jill poses at the front doors of the IHM Motherhouse

My favorite image and saying posted in the IHM front foyer

Artistic rendering of the first "motherhouse" -- a log cabin by the banks of the River Raisin -- humble beginnings for Mother Theresa and the first sisters

Sister Antoinette Ruedisueli, IHM, in the computer room of the IHM Library

IHM Reading Room

Artwork from our IHM sisters and associates ... there are weekly classes taught by our IHM master artists in a variety of media

"The Back 40" ... this is the land behind the Motherhouse that extends beyond the forested area. Includes Saint Joseph lake and island.

See all of Sister Jill Kress and my photos of the IHM Motherhouse at the official A Nun’s Life Facebook page. You don’t need to be a member of Facebook to see the pictures.

I am home at the IHM Mothership (as our novice Sister Jill likes to call it) in Monroe, Michigan, attending community meetings with my nuns. As the good Sister Servant that I am (our full congregational title is Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary), I am helping out at the meetings as the minute taker. It’s great to see so many of my nuns from the Motherhouse and from out on mission. The nuns at the meetings represent our entire congregation — they meet three times a year to lead the congregation, to facilitate our mission, and to tend our community life. During the meetings (each meeting is 4 days long), the reps pray together, study, discuss, reflect, and decide; they also also enjoy hanging out with each other at meals, on walks during the breaks, and at the “pub night” in the evening. It is good nun time. I feel honored to be here.

This morning we are just about ready to begin. I’m waiting for our dear Sister Jill to return from her sex workshop to see how it went! I’m also hoping to take some time to snap some pictures around our Motherhouse to give you a feel for what it’s like around the house.

Please keep my nuns in your prayer.

More later!

I am a little late writing my post today because I have a couple of my IHM nuns visiting from Monroe. I tried to get Sister Jill, a novice in our community, to write a post this morning, but sadly, coffee had not yet been fully absorbed in her system. With Sister Jill is Sister Mary Bea, IHM Novice Director, blogger, and Hermit Crab Rescuer Extraordinaire. The girls are on their way to Racine, Wisconsin, for a sex workshop. Okay, that may be a little too sensational of a description, but it makes for good reading. Seriously they are attending a workshop on psychosexual development for men and women in formation from a variety of communities in this area.

It’s been great hanging out with my nuns. Last night I took them out for Thai food (vegetarian Pad Thai is AWESOME). When we got back to the convent (Chloe the Convent Cat had everyone’s bed ready but I think she ate the mints on the pillows) we each had some work to do. It was actually quite funny because I looked up at one point and our young sister Jill was sitting in her flannels knitting and our veteran sister Mary Bea was reading the NY Times online from her Mac laptop. The juxtaposition of young knitter and older Internet surfer made me laugh!

This morning we enjoyed coffee together and chatted about IHM community life and other verities of life. It’s so good to have my nuns here. I love to see how our IHM charism incarnates itself in each and every nun and how she uniquely expresses that common charism.

So now I must go before Sister Jill gets too absorbed in her double yarn overs and Sister Mary Bea gets lost in Persepolis. Got to get them on the road so they don’t miss out on the sex workshop!

In my last post, I noted that I am giving myself to more spiritual reading this Lent and beyond. I think I found the book that I’d like to begin with: The Saints’ Guide to Happiness: Practical Lessons in the Life of the Spirit by Robert Ellsberg.

The suggestion to read The Saints’ Guide to Happiness came from my nun, Sister Mary Ann Untener, IHM. Listen as she describes the book and the impact it has had on her. (Please note: this was filmed next door to a room full of nuns playing Wii and other games. So there’s a bit of rowdiness in the background!)

The other books mentioned by Sister Mary Ann are as follows:

• The Way of a Pilgrim
• The Seven Storey Mountain

Sister Mary Ann also mentioned her brother Bishop Ken Untener and the author Henri Nouwen.

My IHM sister Jill Kress is guest blogging over at IHM Calling blog. Jill describes what it’s like Between the Commas … Becoming an IHM Sister.

Sister Jill is a regular visitor at A Nun’s Life, most recently shedding light on the discernment process in our online discernment discussion last night with Sister Mary McDevitt, IHM, of Visitation Spirituality Center.

You can also see Jill in action in a video she did for A Nun’s Life last fall on discerning a vocation.

Tonight, A Nun’s Life is hosting a blog discussion on discernment and decision making with Catholic nun and spiritual director Sister Mary McDevitt, IHM.

TONIGHT
7-9 p.m. EST
http://anunslife.org

The discussion is like other discussions we’ve had here (e.g. Doubt the Movie discussion) where the interaction is through comments back and forth on the blog. So all you need to do is visit around 7 p.m. EST. Go to the most recent post (which will be called Discernment and Decision-making Discussion), read and offer comments/questions. This is your conversation! You can email me or comment directly on the blog post. You’ll have to update/refresh your screen to see new comments/questions.

If you have any preliminary comments or questions please write them in the comment section below. If you can’t join us tonight from 7-9, check in anytime later and you’ll be able to see the discussion.

For more info on discernment and practical steps for decision-making, see Sister Mary’s earlier posts this week:

• A Spiritual Director comes to A Nun’s Life to discuss Discernment
• Decision-Making Using a Process of Discernment of Spirits
• 4 Steps for Discernment and Decision-Making
• The Discernment Chart

In yesterday’s post on 4 Steps for Discernment and Decision-Making, Sister Mary noted in Step 2 that you can create a kind of chart to help you figure out how you feel about a decision that you have to make.

I thought I’d give you an example of what that chart might look like for the question, Should I go to graduate school or not?

The pros and cons don’t have to seem like significant reasons, they just have to be important to us. I remember when I had to choose a high school, I ended up going to one because their basketball uniforms looked more cool than the other school’s. Now it wasn’t my only reason, but that desire encapsulated for me all that I felt about the school and that I could envision myself in that school, with those people, and, of course, in that uniform!

Try making a chart for yourself. Consider something in your life that requires you to make a decision. It might be big, it might be small. Try it out and be attentive to the guidance that Sister Mary gives on discernment. Let us know how it goes.

What questions or observations do you have for Sister Mary McDevitt, IHM, in preparation for our online discussion with Sister Mary this Sunday, February 15, from 7-9 p.m. EST?

In Decision-Making Using a Process of Discernment of Spirits, Sister Mary McDevitt, IHM, led us through understanding discernment, consolations, and desolations. When discerning and having to make a significant decision, it’s important to be aware your own inner spirit which is where God dwells within you. Today, Sister Mary takes us through concrete steps to help us figure out how God is calling us. She uses the discernment question example from the previous post, “Should I go to graduate school or not?”

Now, let’s get practical.

Are there steps I can take once I am more aware of my inner spirit?

1. Pray

• I pray and stay in the presence of God often.
• I ask God to give me freedom of spirit.
• I try to say to God, “Whatever choice is your will, it’s ok with me.”
• When I lift up each choice to God — e.g., about going to graduate school — I notice what my heart says. I check out my thoughts, too, and the long-range consequences of this action.

2. Write down two columns for each choice

• I line up the pros and cons of the situations. Two columns on why I would not go to graduate school — the good side (pro), and the not-so-good side (con).
• Then I do the same with the reverse: the pros and cons of going to grad school.
• I pray over the list and see which reasons are most moving, most serious and which affect my relationships with other people.
• One expert suggests: Be on your death-bed and ask which choice you would be glad you made.
• For Christians: Bring the decision and kneel under the Cross of Christ. How does it make sense there? Will this decision bring me closer to Jesus Christ in my living the Gospel?

3. Time for confirmation

• Once I have made a tentative decision, I talk it over with those who know me.
• I wait awhile and see if I feel peaceful in this decision as it becomes clearer.

4. Choose, act and be grateful

• One or many of these steps may guide me. I may wish to do these steps with a spiritual companion.

Sister Mary has given us a lot to think and pray on. In preparation for our live discussion with Sister Mary this Sunday, February 15, from 7-9 p.m. EST, please offer your comments and questions below.

The following reflection is from Sister Mary McDevitt, IHM, a spiritual director and sister in my community. Sister Mary will be joining us this Sunday, February 15, from 7-9 p.m. EST to have a live discussion with you around discernment and decision-making.

What is “Discernment of Spirits”?

Why spirits in the plural? From many holy writings we can say that not every personal impulse and not every attraction is necessarily from God. For example, “I feel called to be on a beach in Hawaii.” The attraction may be something rather shallow that is from our own non-reflective spirit’s prompting.

For those of us who believe in a spirit world, some decisions may be the tempting of an evil spirit. This is tricky because evil never looks like evil, but instead looks like good. On the other hand, the inspiration may be truly from the Holy Spirit of God. So there are at least three kinds of spirits: holy, not-so-holy, and evil.

How do I figure out which spirit is prompting me?

Saints in both Hebrew and Christian scriptures and during the history of spirituality have searched to find, “What is the will of God for me?” or, “What is the dream of God for the part of the world that I inhabit?” (Think of the “dream of God” as Martin Luther King’s, “I have a dream”.) Let’s say the question is, “Should I go to graduate school or not?”

Here are two steps that might help me figure it out:

1) Self-Awareness

I must search my heart. I need to habitually analyze what I am thinking, and feeling, asking if this inspiration comes from God and and where is it leading? This takes time, habitual prayer, and profound honesty.

2) Awareness of my affective states

This means recognizing certain good feelings known as consolations. These feelings lead me closer to God. Other feelings identified as desolations are also states of affectivity which may indicate an increasing distance from God.

Here are some examples:

1) C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis, while riding on the upper layer of a bus in England, felt he was touched by God. He described it like someone asking him to let go. He knew it was from God. When he surrendered to the good Spirit he wrote that it was as if he was a “man of snow” beginning to melt and what was rigid became flexible. (Read more about C.S. Lewis)

2) Angela of Foligno

Angela of Foligno experienced desolation and only dryness of spirit, feeling abandoned by God. She could not pray as usual and only felt absence. (Read more about Angela of Foligno)

3) Immaculée Ilibagiza

Immaculée Ilibagiza, having endured 3 months of hiding with 7 others in a crowded bathroom during the Rwandan genocide, wrote later in Left to Tell, “A wave of despair washed over me and I was overwhelmed by fear. I squeezed my eyes shut as tightly as I could to resist negative thoughts… I prayed as intensely as I ever have. The struggle between the evil whispers raged in my mind.” (Read more about Immaculée Ilibagiza)

Think about a situation in which you have a decision to make. Given what Sister Mary outlined about discernment, consider what consolations you experienced, and what desolations you experienced. Keep in mind that just because something is uncomfortable or difficult doesn’t mean that it is automatically desolation. We can feel consolation and profound peace, even in the most difficult situations. Correspondingly, just because something is easy and pleasurable doesn’t mean it is automatically consolation.

Write down, either here or for yourself, an experience of consolation and/or an experience of desolation. What did you do with the experience? What did you learn from it? (”I don’t know” is a perfectly acceptable answer!)

P.S. Tomorrow’s post will deal with getting practical with discernment and decision-making. And please plan to join us on Sunday from 7-9 p.m. to chat with Sister Mary.

Discernment is a topic that regularly comes up on A Nun’s Life. Last month I wrote a post called How is God calling you? and a few of you asked about continuing the conversation with a spiritual director. Well, I’ve been working on that and am pleased to announce that one of my IHM Sisters who is a spiritual director will be joining us this Sunday evening from 7-9 p.m. EST for a discussion on discernment and decision-making from a faith perspective.

Sister Mary McDevitt is an Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Sister from Monroe, Michigan. For many years, she worked in areas of spiritual formation within the IHM congregation and engaged in retreat work. Sister Mary taught history of spirituality and spiritual direction at a local seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan. There she assisted seminarians and lay men and women to complete their Master of Divinity degrees before they served as pastors, associates and staff in parishes. Sister Mary is now director of Visitation North Spirituality Center in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

In preparation for Sister Mary’s visit, I asked her to provide us with an overview of what discernment is and some concrete steps to help us figure out how God is calling us. Over the next few days, I’ll post her reflections on discernment and we can chat about it. Then on Sunday, Sister Mary will join us on the blog for a live discussion (like how we did the Doubt movie discussion).

Stay tuned for more on discernment and details about Sunday’s live discussion with Sister Mary. Feel free to offer any preliminary thoughts, questions, etc. on discernment or ideas of what you’d like to see Sister Mary address within the realm of discernment. And please spread the word about this event!

It’s not easy writing a blog post when your heart is heavy. This morning I woke to find out that two of my dear IHM Sisters died. One sister I’ve known since I entered the community. She lived at the Motherhouse in Monroe and always made sure to keep an eye out for new members to make sure they were doing okay. She used to play cards with me and other nuns, and took great pride in letting others know that she was teaching the young sisters Spite and Malice! The other sister was the sibling of a nun that I lived with while I was in formation. I rarely saw her without her smiling or laughing or having a twinkle of mischief in her eye!

As I think about and pray for my sisters, I am reminded of my first experience ever of dealing with the death of a Catholic sister. When I lived in Toronto with the Loretto Sisters (IBVM), a sister from the house I lived at died. Sister Emma was a fireball, a woman in love with life and with God. She was a singer, and tried to get my friend Michelle and I to sing but there was little hope for either of us! Her death was a shock to all of us, and it broke all of our hearts. I learned so much from the sisters of that house of how to care for one another, how to celebrate and to mourn Emma’s death, and how to place one’s sorrow and one’s trust in God.

Sister Emma’s wake was held in our house — it was a big convent, but still felt a little weird to me because I’d never lived in a house where a wake was held. When the funeral home brought the body to the house, the sisters welcomed the body at the door and prayed as the casket was brought in. The sisters sat vigil with the body, sometimes praying and crying quietly, other times chatting about wonderful Emma stories! The lay women of the house (we were mostly grad students boarding with the sisters while we worked on our degrees) were welcomed into this holy mourning and celebrating. We too sat vigil, we served at the funeral Mass, we buried our sister, and we celebrated as Emma would have wanted us to.

The experience of knowing Sister Emma and of journeying with the Loretto Sisters through her death touched me deeply. It was probably one of the most formative experiences of my life. It taught me the meaning of sisterhood, and it illustrated for me — in full color — what it means to give one’s life, and one’s death, totally to God.

Please pray for my IHM Sisters Alice and Bea who are “dwelling now in light yet ever near”… and  for my Sister Marie, Alice’s sibling, and all of those who loved these women and were touched by them.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

Today’s Nunday photo and story come from a recent visit of IHM Sisters to Haiti. The IHM Sisters of Monroe together with the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the Immaculata IHMs, and the Scranton IHMs, have a corporate commitment to care for the people of Haiti. Here is our corporate statement:

We, the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the IHM Sisters, impelled by the Gospel, stand in solidarity with the people of Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, in their struggle for dignity, life and human rights both in Haiti and the United States.

You can read more about the Haiti Project on our OSPIHM.org website.

Periodically sisters go to Haiti to help, some stay for a short time, others for a while. Sister Michele Denton, an IHM sister from Monroe, was recently in Haiti with The World Community for Christian Meditation, an organization founded and led by Benedictine monks.

You can read about Sister Michele’s experience in Haiti at our IHM website in the article Sister Bears Witness to Haitian Struggles.

Send in your photos of real Catholic sisters and nuns.

See more photos of sisters and nuns who have been featured on Nunday at A Nun’s Life.

I would like to introduce you to my nun, Sister Jill Kress, IHM. Sister Jill is a novice with my congregation, the IHM Sisters of Monroe. She was recently interviewed by the Michigan Catholic newspaper. She address important issues for all discerners. You can read the interview at IHMcalling.org.

Back in November 2008, Sister Jill did a video in response to a question from an A Nun’s Life reader, part of the series Your questions. IHM Sisters respond. Here’s the video in which Sister Jill responds toa vocation question:

What special advice would you have for someone who is an only child and wants to become a Sister?

Celebrate Inauguration Day at my nun Sister Mary Bea Keeley’s blog, IHM Calling. Sister Mary Bea invites people to IHM nuns and friends share your experience of today’s Inauguration Day.

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Nunday is here and we’re on a roll with IHM Sisters. Yes, it’s true, I am a bit partial to IHMs because they are my nuns!

This photo and story were sent in from Kaz, a regular here at A Nun’s Life.

Sister Elizabeth Zeestraten is an IHM Sister who just turned 100 on December 31, 2008. The Monroe Evening News online edition featured a story about her – IHM sister rings in century of life.

Writes Kaz,

I  liked reading how she summarized her life as the article stated with St. Paul’s words of wisdom found in Thessalonians 5:16-18, which reads: “Rejoice always, never cease praying and render constant thanks; such is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.”

You can also find a writeup about Sister Elizabeth on our IHM Sisters website. What amazes me is that Sister Elizabeth has been a Catholic nun for 77 years!!! WOW! She is an inspiration to me.

Nunday is here, and I am delighted to celebrate it with a picture of my own nun, Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM. I am currently in San Francisco to give a workshop and was able to spend yesterday with Sister Sandra who ministers as Professor Emerita at the Catholic Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley here in California.

Sister Sandra and I spent the day at Muir Woods. On our way there we stopped at an overlook to see the ocean.

Sister Sandra is a Professor of New Testament Studies and Christian Spirituality and has done much work on behalf of religious life. She is a great thinker and theologian. She is also a great nun. Sister Sandra lives and breathes religious life and is an inspiration to me. We had such a good time hiking together and talking about life. I learned that she is a runner and that she’s bungee jumped and that she’s seen hippopotamuses in the wild!

I’ve got a few more pictures of our time together which you can see on my Facebook page.

Catholic nuns today often have many, many different careers throughout their life. We have a saying in our IHM Congregation that comes from one of our founders, Louis Florent Gillet: “I desire to be everywhere when I see so many needs.” This spirit pervades all that we do, and often means that we end up doing many different kinds of things throughout our life.

Sometimes we take on a ministry because our congregational leaders (superiors) ask us to consider it. Other times we become aware of a need and are inspired to address it. We pray and talk it over with our nuns and decide together what to do. Many nuns also experience what you do in terms of having a passion (e.g. promoting literacy, caring for the sick, catechizing young people) and entering the job market to find a position in which we can minister.

My nuns are no exception to having multiple careers or callings throughout their religious life. I’d like to introduce you to my Sister Margaret Chapman, IHM, who currently serves as president of Compassionate Companions, Inc. in Michigan. Here’s her story.

P.S. This interview is a result of my Nun Questions post.
Your Questions. IHM Sisters respond.

A Nun’s Life is pleased to welcome Sister Margaret Brennan, IHM, as a guest blogger today. Sister Margaret is the first IHM Sister that I ever met, and it is through her that I recognized my call to religious life.

“… the lily of my heart”

The date was the eighth of December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Dressed in white uniforms, white stockings, white gloves, and a light blue chiffon shoulder sash, the whole student body processed with lilies which were placed before the altar of Mary in the Sacred Heart Convent Chapel. “Oh Mary, I give thee the lily of my heart. Be thou its guardian forever.” Each year for all my twelve years at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, I, along with my three sisters and all of our classmates knelt to place our lilies, symbols of our dedication and innocence, to Mary. Later as a student at IHM Marygrove College in Detroit, Michigan, vested now in academic cap and gown but still with lily in hand, I once again placed a flower at Mary’s altar.

On July 1, 1945 I entered the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters in Monroe Michigan. Once again I knelt before Mary’s altar as a postulant – but alas! with no lily in hand..

The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary took root in 1845. It was co-founded by Louis Florent Gillet, a Redemptorist missionary, and Theresa Maxis Duchemin a former Oblate Sister of Providence. On May 12, 1846, the bishops of the United States formally decreed the Blessed Virgin Mary, conceived without sin, as Patroness of the United States. A year later, on December 8th, 1847, the title of the IHM Community was changed from Sisters of Providence to Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the original habit from black to “sky blue.”

Each year on this Feast of Mary, IHM Sisters, now having grown into three religious congregations, solemnly renew their vows. For many years best habits and veils were worn (the scent of the cedar closets mingled with that of the lilies!).  Today, while the blue habit for the most part has disappeared, the dedication to Mary as model and type of the Church remains strong and vibrant. Commitment to the meaning and message of her liberating song on behalf of the poor and oppressed fuels a dynamic integration of prayer and commitment.

O Mary, I give you the lily of my heart. Be thou its guardian forever.

Sister Margaret Brennan, IHM, is a theologian and travels the country giving talks and retreats on a variety of topics and persons in Catholic theology and spirituality.

Sister Anne Crane, IHM, joins us today. This is one of the videos that I took when I was home in Monroe. You’ll hear a bit of partying in the background as this video was taken during “pub night” at one of our IHM gatherings. Sister Anne responds to one of your Nun Questions.

What books are you reading now?” (from Marquis and others)

In this video Sister Anne talks about three books (listed below) which are different in themselves but which are connected by a common theme of “girls growing up”.

The three books that Sister Anne reviews are as follows:

• Run: A Novel by Anne Patchett
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

Sister Anne Crane, IHM, is a Catholic nun belonging to the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregation. Sister Anne recently retired from Saint Edward’s University where she was a Professor of English. She lives on our IHM Motherhouse campus in Monroe, Michigan.

I have been doing a lot of thinking on, praying with, and studying of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This image of Mary is near and dear to my own heart as it is the namesake of my own religious congregation. But recently it has been an image — and a certain kind of devotion — that has drawn me in, almost as if asking me, inviting me, to go deeper.

I didn’t really grow up with Catholic devotions though the sacredness and mystery of Catholic devotions surrounded me like incense on a high holy day. As a kid, I wondered how people could be so into their devotion, what attracted them so much. No devotion ever gave me that kind of feel so I figured I was either doing something wrong or I just wasn’t religious enough.

Things have changed since I was a child. I look at and experience Catholic devotions in a very different way, though the feeling of sacredness and mystery are still there. As Mary and the image of her immaculate heart have stayed and grown with me, I’m in a different place to consider what devotion means to me and what this image in particular means to me as well as within the Church’s tradition and the lived faith of others.

Coincidentally (in fact I remembered this just as I was writing this post) I recently discovered a book we published at Loyola Press in our company library: Awake My Soul: Contemporary Catholics on Traditional Devotions It’s got me wondering what Catholic devotions mean to other people.

How are you with devotions? What are especially meaningful to you and how does it engage you, call to you deep within your spirit?

Today we are blessed to have Sister Theresa Milne, IHM, with us. This is one of the videos that I took when I was home in Monroe. Sister Terry responds to one of your Nun Questions.

What particular spiritual practice is most important to you in your walk with the Lord and why?” (from deerose)

In this video Sister Terry talks about the simple prayer of saying “yes” and “thank you” to God.

The two books that Sister Terry mentions are as follows:

• Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
• Thank God Ahead of Time: The Life and Spirituality of Solanus Casey by Michael Crosby

Sister Theresa Milne, IHM, is a Catholic nun belonging to the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregation. Sister Theresa lives at our IHM Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan.

Question from a reader …

Dear Sister, I notice that religious nuns wear a ring just like a wedding band or wedding ring married couples wear. The wedding ring of my brother and my sis-in-law has an engraving of their names underneath the ring. What about religious nuns do they engrave something on the ring like Our Lord Jesus name or ICHTUS or JMJ or AMDG? (acronyms etc.)

What about the design of the ring … do they have one or they’re just plain? Thanks for answering. Adia

Good questions! First, the tradition of Christians wearing rings is an interesting one. The Catholic Encyclopedia article on rings notes that Christians, like their non-Christian counterparts, wore rings as a sign of their station, occasionally having them engraved with a religious symbol or bedecked with a jewel. The ring in some cases was used as a seal but it also was a symbol of “conjugal fidelity”. And so a bishop might receive a ring as an “episcopal ornament conferred in the rite of consecration … as emblematic of [his] betrothal … to his Church.” Other ecclesiastics might also receive the privilege of wearing a gold ring. In terms of nuns, the article notes that “nuns and consecrated virgins wore “plain rings … in memory of their betrothal to their heavenly Spouse”.

So this symbol of fidelity, of lifelong commitment unto death is a significant one for wearing the ring. The tradition of wearing rings in religious life continues. Each religious community of Catholic nuns and sisters, as well as monks and brothers, has its own customs around the ring — if they wear one, what material it is made from, whether it has an engraving, etc. The ring is normally given when the sister professes vows — for some communities (like mine) the ring is given at first profession; for others it is given at final profession of vows.

In my IHM Congregation, we wear a gold band that is engraved. On the outside of the ring, there is an engraving of two hearts that are pierced by a single sword. The two hearts represent the Immaculate Heart of Mary (our namesake) and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On the inside is the Latin text, Ego te sponsabo, which means “I will wed thee”. What is particularly cool about my congregation (probably others too) is that we “recycle” our rings. I did not receive a new ring when I professed my vows; rather I received the worn ring of one of my IHM sisters that is “dwelling now in light”. I love this tradition because it binds me to the whole IHM “communion of saints”. I don’t know the name of the sister who wore this ring, but I can feel her warm presence and encouragement.

For sisters and nuns reading, what is your ring like and what does it symbolize for  you and for your congregation? Also, for anyone, tell us about the important ring that you wear.

Yesterday I spent the day in Monroe, Michigan, at my IHM Motherhouse. I am a member of committee that is responsible for engaging the IHM community in a process of prayer and reflection on religious life and our IHM charism. It is one of the most engaging experiences I’ve had the privilege to be involved in.

While at the meeting yesterday, we talked about many things — how the process was going, what our next steps are, etc. The meeting continued throughout the morning. Then, while we were in the midst of discussion on some topic or another, the Motherhouse bell rang. It was noon, and the bell signaled the praying of the Angelus. Our discussion stilled and gave way to silence. Then we began to pray together the Angelus.

I can’t tell you how meaningful that was. It symbolized so much to me … our apostolic work combined with contemplation; our identity as Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters; our shared life of prayer, community, and mission; our own “yes” to the work of the Holy Spirit alive in us, in our IHM community, and in our world.

At noon today I invite you to pray the Angelus with me and with my IHM Sisters. Here are the words to the Angelus.

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace …

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary, full of grace …

And the Word was made Flesh.
And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, full of grace …

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that, we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an Angel, may by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Providentia providebit. Providence provides. I learned the phrase from the Oblate Sisters of Providence when I first met them over 10 years ago. As I’ve gotten to know them through the years, heard their stories, worked side by side with them, and listened to how Providence is alive in their lives and congregation, my own spirituality and indeed how I see my IHM life and tradition has grown, helping me to see that Providence pervades my whole life.

I wrote recently about the Oblate Sisters of Providence on the occasion of the IHM Sisters’ Founders Day. Deerose commented on the post and had a question for the Oblate Sisters: “Does your charism have anything to do with the theology/philosophy behind the classic, Abandonment to Divine Providence?” I checked in with a couple of Oblate Sisters for their response. Sister Alice, OSP, sent me this response:

“Abandonment to Divine Providence” as described by the theologians, for example, Caussade, is truly what we are all about. Providence Spirituality is dependence upon God as Provider of all our needs, including our spiritual welfare. Whatever we have, we know that it is gift of the spirit and we must use it wisely and share it generously. As our Statement of Charism says:

The original inspiration of the Oblate Sisters of Providence is that gift of the Spirit, so evident in the life of Mother Mary Lange.

This charism enables us, with total trust in God’s Providence, to bring joy, healing and the liberating redemptive life of the suffering Jesus to the victims of poverty, racism and injustice despite contradictions, prejudice and pain.

What is your experience of Providence? How does the experience of Providence express itself in your life, your prayer, daily living?

Of the many questions that you folks asked of my IHM Sisters
(see Nun Questions) this one was one of the more difficult ones.

Have you ever experienced something that made you re-evaluate your vocation? How did you overcome that experience? (from mjpss)

It is a very good and important question, but I wasn’t sure that anyone would want to spontaneously answer the question — let alone on video camera! I think it’s a question that many people have on their minds, especially as they consider a vocation to religious life.

I am happy to say I was proven wrong because one of my IHM Sisters did step up and take this question on. I’ve watched this video at least a dozen times and am still blown away.

Sister Candyce Rekart, IHM, is a Catholic nun belonging to the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregation. Sister Candyce is a clinical psychologist ministering at Clinica de Salud Mental Inc. in Puerto Rico.

Today is November 10, 2008, the 163rd anniversary of the founding of the IHM Congregations — Monroe IHMs from Monroe, Michigan (my community); Scranton IHMs; and Immaculata IHMs (both of Pennsylvania). Our congregations were begun by Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin and Father Louis Florent Gillet, CSsR (Redemptorist priest). Mother Theresa was originally a member of the Oblate Sisters of Providence but she left to found a new community in Michigan with Father Gillet. Though the Oblate Sisters of Providence celebrate their founding by Mother Mary Lange and Father James Hector Nicholas Joubert, SS (Sulpician priest) on July 2, 1829, I can’t help but remember them on our Founders Day because without them, we would not be.

So today on Founders Day, which also happens to be Nunday, I want to share with you photos of my nuns, the Immaculata and Scranton IHMs and the OSPs. Though each of us lives our charism in unique ways and have different stories, we are bound together by a common heart.

First is a photo of the OSPIHM Governing Board which is made up of the Major Superior, the assistant to the Major Superior, and one member selected at large from the membership of the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the three congregations of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The 2006 – 2010 members are (back row) Julie Vieira, IHM (M), Rose Yeager, IHM (I); Lorraine McGrew, IHM (I), Mary Persico, IHM (S), Mary Fran Gilleran, IHM (M); (middle row) Mary Ricardo Maddox, OSP, Mary Jo Gallagher, IHM (S), Mary Annette Beecham, OSP; Mary Anne Bolger, IHM (I) (front row) Fran Fasolka, IHM (S), Ana Jovita Hidalgo, OSP, Joan Mumaw, IHM (M)

Next is a photo of the OSP and IHM Major Superiors in 2005 at a gathering of our 4 communities in Immaculata.

The 2005 Major Superiors were Virginia Pfau, IHM (M), Annette Beecham, OSP, Mary Persico, IHM (S), Rose Marie DeCarlo, IHM (I)

Finally a photo of OSP and IHM Sisters whooping it up with the Mummers at our 2005 gathering of all four communities.

Previous posts on Founders Day at A Nun’s Life.

Thank you so much for your participation in the call for Nun Questions. The response was overwhelming. Here’s what’s been happening since you submitted the questions.

Since I’m in Monroe at my IHM Motherhouse attending meetings important to the life of our congregation, I thought I’d ask my Sisters if they would like to participate in A Nun’s Life by responding to questions from visitors about a variety of topics ranging from their favorite place in the world to their vocation. I took each question (some had to be edited a bit to fit on an index card) and posted them on a board in our IHM Motherhouse. Last night the meetings gave way to “pub night” (organized by the very talented Barbara, Marilyn, and Karin whom you’ll see later in a rare video interview about what it’s like to work for nuns). During the pub we invited Sisters to check out the huge board with all your questions posted and to take a question and respond on camera.

I am enormously grateful to these women, my Sisters, for participating and offering their experience and wisdom. Now, the videotaping was all me and definitely a work in progress. For example, you’ll hear some ambient sound coming from the pub party-goers who were playing Wii, singing, and having a great time.

Here is the first Sister who stepped up to respond to one of your questions. The question comes from Deerose: “Do you believe there are any prophets living today? If so, who is it and why do you think of this person as prophetic?” Sister Joan Mumaw, IHM, responds. Joan is currently ministering as the Vice President of our IHM Congregation. She has spent many years ministering in Africa and is a leader in addressing the issues around the global pandemic of HIV AIDS.

I am going to be home for a few days in Monroe, Michigan at our IHM Motherhouse. I’m bringing my handy camcorder with me so that I can film nuns, nature, chapel, and other interesting subjects.

I thought it would be really cool to get some one-line questions from all of you for my IHM Sisters … questions that they could respond to in 2-3 minutes. Some of us (including myself) are a little shy on camera, but if we have an index card with a real question from a real person, we cut loose (well, within reason).

What I need you to do is, using the comment section below, write your one-line questions. They can be serious or light. Examples:

• “Why are you called Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters?”
• “What is your favorite movie and why?”
• “Did you ever want to be married and have children?”
• “Where do you work?”
• “What is your favorite prayer?”

Be creative, friends! My hope is to then post the mini-interviews here on my blog and on my ANunsLife YouTube Channel.

I would LOVE to get at least 50 one-line questions for nuns to respond to. Thanks for participating!

Sister Annunciata Grix, IHM, is a dear friend of mine in my IHM Congregation who died this past July. Still, Nuncie is very much a part of my life and definitely walks among the IHM “communion of saints”. I’ve been thinking about Nuncie a lot lately, missing her, and also asking for her prayers and support because I’ve got an adventurous couple of weeks ahead of me.

So this Nunday, I thought I’d share a couple more pictures of Nuncie that I took at her Remembering … a Remembering is a time for prayer and recalling memories of a Sister who has died. We usually hold Rememberings the night night before a Sister’s funeral. There are always albums of pictures, pieces of writings that the Sister wrote, flowers and momentos from family and friends, and stories — lots of stories!

Here are my past blog postings about Nuncie.

Good morning and happy feast day! Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Teresa of Avila. This is an especially important day in my IHM Congregation because Saint Teresa is one of our patron saints.

I write regularly about Teresa because she is awesome and has been an important person in my life and in the life of the Church. I wrote about her in the VISION 2009 Vocation Guide which you can read online.

Saint Teresa, church window, Convento de Sta Teresa
Ávila de los Caballeros, Spain

Hi Sister Julie,

If I told you the complete story how I found this web site you would laugh! Let’s just say I was on Amazon looking for some books about the question below which lead me to St. Teresa of Avila, then here. God bless the internet!

To put my question in context, I will briefly explain its origin. I grew up Catholic (parochial school, altar boy, etc) and have had a persistent calling since early adolescence. Regardless, I shelved my spirituality during the teen years. Now 34, it’s growing again.

I am hoping you could recommend a source to help me have a deeper understanding of the Eucharist and what it means during mass. I have a Catechism and I think I understand the literal meaning-from a 30,000 foot view, but sense a huge gap in spiritual connection. I’ve been praying, begging, consulting, and have been attending mass stubbornly in spite of lack of “scope” in my understanding. I am not hoping for a mystical experience (I don’t think that highly of myself!), but a greater respect and awareness of what happens during mass. Hopefully my request isn’t laced w/unrealistic expectations of you, but I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t hidden from most people and that you may have encountered this search before-maybe personally? Am I approaching this incorrectly? Could it be a matter of 100% faith, regardless of depth of understanding or feeling? Sometimes I think God hides things from me so I don’t screw it up-you know, like heavenly Special ED. I’m not whining-just eager.

Thank you for sharing your time,
Dan

Dear Dan, I was delighted to read your comment, both because of how you found me and because of the way you explained your experience and desire. I also hear a bit of myself in you.

You well expressed that sense of being attracted, drawn in by something that is incomprehensible, something that doesn’t easily yield its secrets, yet is compelling nonetheless. I guess it’s no wonder why many of the truths of our religion are called “mysteries of faith”! But because it’s a mystery doesn’t mean we have to solve it or figure it out but to embrace it. Live into the mystery. Allow it to embrace us. (I’m a big fan of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Rahner’s theology of Holy Mystery, so I had to get a little of that in.)

That being said, there’s lots we can do to better understand things like the Eucharist and what’s happening at Mass. Though these are more intellectual exercises, they affect our spirit and faith and help us grow in our relationship with God and the people with whom we worship. One of my favorite books on the Mass is Joe Paprocki’s book Living the Mass. Another thing that I have personally found helpful is praying with the Scripture passages about the Last Supper. Sister Barbara Reid, OP, has a nice piece in “Scripture from Scratch” (2002) on the Last Supper.

Ultimately, the words of one of my IHM nuns keeps ringing in my ears as I think of how to respond to you: “Ride the saddle easy.” I know, not the most spiritual saying, but fitting I think. When you are at Mass, remember that the whole liturgy is a celebration of dying and rising, of bread and body broken, of wine and blood outpoured. It’s in the people praying around you, in the priest and liturgical ministers, in the wood of the pews and the glass of the windows. Give in to that sense of dying and rising, being broken and made whole. You are participating in the very life of Jesus the Christ!

Ride the saddle easy: don’t try to make a mystical moment happen or expect a clear understanding of what is going on. The experience of the Eucharist at Mass and in other incarnational moments in daily life will draw you into a fuller meaning. And, as I noted above, a little spiritual reading never hurts!

Blessings to you, Dan. My prayers are with you.

Last week I started a campaign to change the face of nun imagery on the Internet. Thank you to so many of you who are supportive of this endeavor. I received a dozen or so photo from readers who are helping to make this happen. Many, many thanks. My hope is that pictures will continue to be sent in so that on every Monday I can post new nun photos making every Monday a Nunday.

So, keep sending me nun photos! We want to show the beautiful diversity of Catholic nuns and sisters — so that means photos of real women religious (another term for nuns/sisters) … maybe wearing the habit or in lay clothes, in ministry or at home, playing or praying.

I’ll post the photos and make sure they are search engine optimized so that when people search for nun images they’ll get real nuns instead of caricatures or erotica. Jen from Musings from the Big U blog also noted that the more you link to these authentic nun photos, the more the photos will be ranked higher which has the effect of pushing the other unsavory nun images to the back.

Since today is Monday, I have a nun photo for you sent in from Dennis who was taught by my IHM Sisters. The photo is of Sister Nora Marie, IHM.

Dennis writes, “About a year ago, one of my classmates at St. Felicitas finally got Sr. Nora Marie to let him take a couple snaps of her. This was taken just before she moved back to the Motherhouse. At the time, she was in Florida and packing. As for Sr. Nora, she was the bravest of the brave and had us for both 7th and 8th grade at St. Felicitas. She had Sr. Dorothy as an ally when she took over the eighth grade class. *grin* We really adored her.”

Sister Maria Loyola, IHM, whom I first came to know via photographs of her “surfing”, died on Sunday. Her niece Janet wrote to let me know because of the blog post I had written about her and the Nun’s Beach Surf Invitational.

My condolences to Janet, Andrea and their family, to the IHM Sisters of Immaculata, to David the photographer and all who were touched by Sister Loyola’s life and love of life.

I would love for you to get a feel of what Jubilee is like and who our women are. Here’s just a flavor. Will post more later.

I am in awe. Can you imagine what it’s like to celebrate 75 years in any life (religious life, married life, teaching, parenting, etc.)? What are you thinking?

After four fabulous days in Monroe at my IHM Motherhouse, I am home in Chicago. It was so, so good to be immersed in IHM life and spirit again. I don’t know how to describe the feeling of being home, surrounded by all of my nuns (save for a few who couldn’t make it) and in Monroe, Michigan, where our founders Mother Teresa Maxis and Father Louis Florent Gillet first began the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The first two days were our community days, time that we take to be with one another in a contemplative way as we reflect on our life together and where the Holy Spirit is calling us. It’s amazing to be in a place where decision-making, interactions, and presentations are qualitatively different than any other group I’ve been a part of. In community, we all make decisions — the “least” among us has a voice and is encouraged to speak and participate. The leaders of the community guide us and participate with us, but they also serve us, facilitating our growth and empowering us to live the mission and spirit of the IHM community. We take seriously our name “Sisters, Servants …” and we model the strength and courage and prayerfulness and faithfulness of Mary who is also part of our name “… of the Immaculate Heart of Mary”. We leave open the possibility that God might be leading us into a new place, a place that we can’t quite imagine or put a shape or words to. I so admire this about my sisters and I try to bring this spirit to all my work and daily living.

I still have to upload some videos and stuff. Can’t wait to share with you a bit more of our IHM time together.

I’m in Monroe to celebrate the jubilees of my IHM nuns who have been nuns for 25, 50, 60, and 75 years! Check out the 2008 IHM Jubilarians on our IHM website.

I forgot my laptop power cord in Chicago, so I’ve not been able to be online very much. Plus, I’ve been attending all-day community meetings and visiting lots of my nuns — so many nuns came home from near and far to be here.

So I’ve been a bit remiss in posting and in responding to comments. I haven’t forgotten, just a little behind! I’ll be writing more about Jubilee later tomorrow or Monday.

Blessings to each one of you.

Sister Julie

Here is a picture I’ve been searching for of my Nuncie, Sister Annunciata Grix, IHM.

A Remembering Card with the info below is made for each sister who dies.

Began

Life
August 16, 1908

Christian Life
August 23, 1908

Religious Life
January 2, 1930

Fullness of Life
July 9, 2008

“In the evening of life we shall be judged on LOVE.
~ Saint John of the Cross

Some of you have begun sharing about the “Nuncies” in your life — people who mentor you, encourage you, and embrace you for who you are. Write in the comments below about who your “Nuncie” has been.

Greetings, friends. I’ve been out and about for the last few days. I was able to make it home for my dear Sister Annunciata’s funeral and burial. Celebrating the Resurrection Liturgy for a Sister is one of the most amazing things — again and again I am reminded by my nuns that though we grieve we celebrate the life of our Sister and her new life in the Presence of God. I miss Nuncie quite a bit. It was great to hear stories about her from the old days all the way up to her last moments.There were some pretty amazing moments while I was home … here are a few of them.

• Outside the closed door of Nuncie’s room is a table with a flower and notebook. Inside the notebook nuns, nurses, staff, and others leave notes addressed to Nuncie about what she meant to them. We do this for all of our sisters.

• We have the wake for our Sisters at the Motherhouse in our chapel. Often sisters will sit vigil with the body at different times during the night and day. I arrived too late for the formal wake, and wanted to be sure to spend some time alone with Annunciata. Early in the morning I walked over to the Motherhouse and into the dark chapel. No one was there. In the back of the chapel was the casket, and on either side of the casket were two beautiful lamps yielding a pink glow. Nuncie wore the blue suit from her Jubilee celebration. I pulled a chair over and just sat vigil with her and talked with her. I pray that she watch over me and the congregation.
• Following the funeral, we got in our cars and headed out the back part of our campus to our cemetary. As we went, we passed by our IHM organic farm. There was a young man working in the field. When he saw the procession, he stood, immediately took off his hat and held it at his chest until well after we had passed by.
• A Sister recounted a story from after Annunciata had died. She had said a prayer to Nuncie and asked her for a sign that everything was okay. Within seconds the bell for the Angelus began ringing — the Angelus is a Catholic prayer about the Annunciation, Nuncie’s namesake. The Annunciation is the story of the angel of God announcing to Mary that she would bear the Son of God.

When I returned home, I happened upon this article about another person’s experience at the funeral of a beloved nun. Be sure to check it out.

Thank God for Sister Matthew and Those Like Her
by Eddie McGuire for the Australian newspaper Herald Sun (July 13, 2008)

This past week has been a whirlwind for me, hence my blog absence. On the weekend my sister and brother-in-law, two nephews, and aunt visited.

We had a ton of fun — dinner at Giordano’s for some Chicago-style pizza, a day at the Shedd Aquarium and a visit with the Komodo Dragon, a river/lake boat ride around Chicago with architectural highlights and a lock, a walk through Millennium Park, 30-miles of cycling on Bike the Drive, more parks, lunch at Portillo’s, and shopping at IKEA. WOW — 60s hours of some serious fun and family bonding! After the fam left on Monday a.m. I cleaned, did laundry, ran errands, and packed for a nun week away.

I’m currently hanging out in Ohio near the Great Black Swamp — enjoying my time away and the opportunity to get some of my own work and writing done. (More on the Great Black Swamp later!)

This weekend I’ll head up to Monroe, Michigan, to my IHM Motherhouse for a few engagements and meetings.

My Internet connection has been spotty so rather than frustrate myself, I’ve abstained from too much online activity. But it’s getting better so I think I’m back. Ah the joys of traveling with uncertain connectivity!

One of the first things I learned when I became attached to the IHMs was that we are a dynamic group. We are always moving — scoping this ministry or prayer opportunity in one place; going by plane, train, automobile, bicycle, or one’s own two feet to attend to the needs of people and God’s creation in another place; meeting up with one another in Monroe (location of our Motherhouse) or in a central location where IHMs are gathered (east coast, chicago, africa, detroit, juarez, southwest, toronto, puerto rico, etc.).

By our nature as an active apostolic community (as distinct from a contemplative and/or enclosed community of nuns) and living directly in the world — living and worshipping in the neighborhoods in which we work. We are also mobile — when we see a need someplace — anyplace really — we pray and consider what we can do and we go there. One of our co-founders Redemptorist father Louis Florent Gillet, CSsR, once wrote something to the effect that “we desire to be everywhere when we see so many needs.” That is truly a part of our charism as IHMs and certainly of many congregations of women religious. Even communities whose nuns are enclosed practice this charism in one way or another. They may not physically fly to Africa to help children who have AIDS, but they pray on their behalf ceaselessly. They take into their hearts and every cell of their being the cares and concerns of the world.

This reflection comes after being in Monroe for a gathering with my Mission Unit (smaller groups of IHMs in which we regularly meet, pray together, support one another, and attend to the business of the congregation). I’ve had many opportunities because of my community to see the world — again, not just by going to places (which I do) but by seeing the world through different eyes — eyes of compassion and love and the desire to walk with people where they are, embrace those who are often kicked to the side because they live in poverty or with illness, learn from and be open to others (for we all hold the spark of God within us!), provide education and opportunity to people, and care tenderly for all of creation (even the little fuzzy caterpillar meandering on the sidewalk). In religious life, we truly desire to “see the world” not from our own provincial (and limited) perspective, but from the perspective of God who knows no boundaries and makes none of the distinctions that we humans make to separate, categorize, and discriminate. And not just religious — there are many women and men in this world (of all sizes and stripes) that are committed to this vision. Each one of us has this capacity for “bigness”!

Here’s Sister Katherine’s profession of final vows …

As promised, I took a couple little videos (I don’t have a real video camera, just the one on my digital camera) so that I could share with you some of the profession ceremony of Sister Katherine Collard, IHM.

In this video, Katherine responds to Sister Mary Fran Gilleran, IHM President, who asks Katherine to speak to her desire to become an IHM Sister.

Powerful and beautiful.

On Sunday, May 4, 2008, Sister Katherine Collard, IHM professed final vows during the Eucharistic Liturgy. It was a joy to celebrate with her and to welcome her fully as an IHM Sister. We are greatly enriched by Katherine’s presence, her gifts, her faithfulness, and her love. I have a few videos of the ceremony that I’d like to share with you. Stay tuned!

We are also blessed to have just had another final profession of vows by Sister Barbara Stanbridge, IHM. Unfortunately my plane ride was canceled and I missed the ceremony. However, you can read about her profession in the article “Detroit Business Woman Returns to IHM Sisters as Vowed Member” at our IHM website. I’ve known Barbara almost since I first joined the community. She is a delight, full of energy, and committed to mission.

Greetings! I’ve been away from Chicago and my computer for a few days … lots to tell! On Sunday I was in Monroe, Michigan, home of the IHM Motherhouse, for the final profession of vows of Sister Katherine Collard, IHM. It was fabulous … I’ll write more later. For now, I am catching up with myself and trying to get myself off to work!

Here’s a picture as I walked to the Motherhouse for the profession …

Sister Mary McCann, one of my IHM Sisters, has been writing wonderful reflections in A Time to Sow, an IHM quarterly publication on the spirituality of sustainability. Mary is a beloved Sister, a very good writer, and a prayerful woman with stunning insight into life, God, and God’s creation.

In preparation for Earth Day (April 22) Sister Mary’s reflections are featured at wwwReadTheSpirit.com, a media website focusing on religion and spirituality. The site, under the leadership of David Crumm, is also “a network of professionals — writers, editors, photographers, artists, clergy, scholars and people from other disciplines, as well, who are building cooperative partnerships to produce books, Web content and videos.

You can read the reflections by following these links and scrolling down a bit:

Who’s Spiritually Embracing Earth Day?
Prayers and Eager Hands Are Rising Around the World for Earth Day

And these …

A Glimpse of Geese
A Meadow Moment

Enjoy, my friends!

I received an email from a reader about the Mighty Macs, one of the most famous women’s basketball teams this side of God. ESPN recently published this article: “Where did it all begin? Just ask Immaculata’s Mighty Macs” (March 26, 2008) by Greg Garber.

“Mighty Macs” was the name give to the team of women who played for Immaculata College (now Immaculata University) in Pennsylvania, a school that was founded by the Immaculata IHM Sisters, cousins to my own Monroe IHMs.

Here are some awesome stats gleaned from the article:

• Cathy Rush, the first basketball coach at Immaculata was hired for $450 a year beginning in 1970.
• Title IX guaranteed women an equal footing with men in collegiate athletics in 1972.
• The Mighty Macs won the first national championship in women’s basketball in 1972. They won again the following two years.
• Immaculata was the first college women’s team to play outside of the United States, traveling to Australia in 1974.
• In January 1975, Immaculata versus Maryland was the first women’s game to appear on national television.
• One month later, Immaculata and Queen’s College were the first women’s teams to play at Madison Square Garden.
• In 1978, when the first women’s collegiate doubleheader was played at Philadelphia’s Spectrum, all four coaches were Immaculata graduates — Vicki Harrington, Class of 1967 (Immaculata); Marianne Crawford Stanley, Class of 1976 (Old Dominion); Theresa Shank Grentz, Class of 1974 (Rutgers); and Rene Muth Portland, Class of 1975 (St. Joseph’s).
• Immaculata University is known as the Birthplace of Women’s Basketball.

The Immaculata IHM nuns were most supportive of their Mighty Macs. The caption of this picture (from the article) reads: “The nuns were primary teachers at Immaculata, and primary fans at the women’s basketball games. Without an organized pep band, they organized a Bucket Brigade to cheer for the Mighty Macs.”

As a proud product of Catholic school athletic programs and CYO basketball, I am thrilled that these women (nuns, coaches, and players) are getting the recognition they deserve.

Stay tuned for the movie “Our Lady of Victory“, a feature film about the true story of the Mighty Macs of Immaculata University winning the first national championship in women’s basketball in 1972.

My IHM community is a member of Michigan Interfaith Power and Light. In 2007 we received an ENERGY STAR for Congregations award and so NBC affiliate WDIV did a story on us, highlighting some of the ways we “nuns go green!”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8boRiRh-b4]

I’ve been wanting to share with you a bit of my experience of the workshop for women and men religious that I went to a couple weeks ago. The workshop was called Poverty in a Land of Plenty and was led by my own IHM sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM. Sandra is an expert on the theology and history of religious life, especially its biblical roots, and is author of the trilogy Religious Life in a New Millennium (vol 1 = Finding the Treasure, vol 2 = Selling All, vol 3 = forthcoming).

A foundational insight in Sandra’s work is that religious life is not reducible to a career or religious sentiment; it’s a lifeform that is rooted in the crucified and risen Christ who is active among us today. We aren’t nuns (or monks) just because we like to help others or wear religious gear or participate in rituals. We are nuns because God has called us to orient our lives around the quest for God “in a total and exclusive way”. Sandra describes this well:

Religious … do not have exclusive access to holiness nor, necessarily, superiority in relation to it. What specifies their life, their “specialization,” is their exclusive life-commitment to religion itself. Like the person who shapes her or his life around art, or sports, or scientific research or family (even while also participating in some or all of the other spheres [of life]) and who may or may not be better than others in the chosen sphere, the Religious is a specialist in the God-quest in the sense of having structured her life life around it in a total and exclusive way. (Finding the Treasure 37)

“The Religious is a specialist in the God-quest.” Wow. I cannot finish typing that without a sense of fear and trembling. It’s no wonder this way of life is a calling from God because this is no small “specialization.”

I’ve often heard my nuns talk about the grace of office, how when a nun is elected to a position, she receives the grace to faithfully meet her responsibilities. Being called to leadership calls out skills and gifts in a new way. I think this “grace of office” thing applies to all of us when we make a life commitment such as becoming a Religious. We are each ordinary people, living the Gospel as best we can. But when we are called, it’s as if we receive a “new” grace from God to rise to the challenge of such a radical, powerful, beautiful way of life.

Celebrating Consecrated Life
“Poverty in a Land of Plenty”

… shared study, prayer and reflection with Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM …

When:

Friday, February 15 — 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. followed by a social
Saturday, February 16 — 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. lunch provided

Where:

Saint Giles Parish Hall
1025 N. Columbian Ave., Oak Park, IL

Cost:

$40.00 per person

Registration:

Click here — Celebrating Consecrated Life pdf — for the form which can be printed and mailed in with a check. Registration is due Monday, January 14.

Sister Sandra Schneiders is one of my nuns, an IHM Sister of Monroe, Michigan. She is one of the foremost scholars on religious life today. Among her recent publications are Finding the Treasure and Selling All, the first two volumes of a trilogy on Catholic Religious Life entitled “Religious Life in a New Millennium.”

See you there!

Want to see a little bit around our IHM Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan, and learn about how we are benefiting the earth?

Fox News Detroit recently stopped by our Motherhouse to find out how a community founded in the 1800s could be so “thoroughly modern” when it comes to the environment.

Click here for the video Monroe Motherhouse Benefits Mother Earth.

On Saturday after the funeral of my nun’s mom, I spent some time at the ocean, ran some errands, and had dinner with all of my IHM sisters who were in town. Our flights back to the midwest didn’t leave until Sunday morning so we had some time to hang out and be together. Some of the nuns hiked down to Villa Maria, ocean home of the Immaculata IHMs (I’ve mentioned this place before in a post about the Nun’s Beach Surf Invitational) and some sat by the fire with a good book. I personally decided to wandered aimlessly on the beach. It’s not often that I’m at the ocean and I always marvel at its vastness, its wildness. As I walked along the water’s edge I saw lots of sandpipers and sea gulls. There were also all manner of creatures — tiny shells and big shells indicating the creature that had made the shell its home.

Later in the evening we had our dinner together. One of the nuns brought in some shells which she had checked to be sure no one was living in them. We had a great time chit-chatting, talking nun stuff, and remembering our sister’s mom Virginia. It was well past 9 when we had cleaned up. One of my nuns and I were just about done when I noticed the shells still on the table. I went over to look at them, picked one up, and YELPED! A tiny little hermit crab dropped out of one of the shells! He (or she) was no bigger than a dime. He must have really been tucked into a shell because we had no idea he was there until he dropped out. My other nun Mary Bea came over and looked at the little guy. He was moving around, but not too steadily.

What were we to do? Of course, we had to take him back to the ocean. I felt so bad for the little guy. He was probably freaked out from everything he heard from us IHMs, not unlike the proverbial fly on the wall (ha! the birth of a new cliche! “boy, wouldn’t I like to be a crab in a shell at that conversation!”).

So it’s pretty darn dark outside but my nun and I are on a mission. We must save the hermit crab. I didn’t even know if he’d live very long but I knew if he was going to die, he’d die at home by the ocean. Mary Bea and I put our little crab friend on the cover of the hummus container from dinner, surrounded him with shells so he could take his pick of home, and headed to the ocean.

I actually know a thing or two about hermit crabs because of my two nephews, but I felt woefully inept at caring for this little creature that had literally fallen into my hands.

So with great care, we headed out to the ocean, picking our way over sand dunes and heading for the sound of crashing waves. The only light we had was the eerie glow from my cell phone screen which I used to make sure the little guy was still with us. When we got to the shore, we found a suitable place in the sand to place the hermit crab. We again surrounded him with shells to protect him and hoped that he’d crawl back into one of them. I said a little prayer of blessing for the hermit crab. And then we stood up, and lo and behond, there were STARS! Stars, stars, and more stars. All around us were stars. After a few minutes of staring at the night sky, my eyes would begin to pick out a whole other layer of stars, deeper and deeper into the universe. It was quite spectacular.

Mary Bea and I bid adieu to our hermit crab friend and headed back across the sand to our place of residence. It was a night that I will not soon forget.

Happy feast day! Today is a major feast day for us IHMs. It is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. This feast celebrates the conception of Mary (Jesus’ conception is celebrated on the feast of the Annunciation) who was born “immaculate”, that is, without sin so that she could be a pure vessel of the holy.

Though this feast day is cause for great celebration, today it is with a mixture of joy and sorrow that I celebrate with my sisters. Today was the funeral of one of my dear sister’s mom. Virginia was a wonderful woman, a loving wife and mother. I am a better person for having known her.

Though the circumstances were tough, it was so good to be with my IHM sisters, many of whom I see only once or twice a year. Though we don’t say these words in our vows, “for better or for worse” definitely describes how we are with one another. Life is real and we hang in there with one another no matter how tough it gets. And we IHMs weren’t the only nuns to come to support our sister and her family. Many sisters from a variety of religious communities came out to mourn and to remember and to celebrate her mom’s life. I am in awe at the sisterhood that exists not only among sisters of the same community but of all sisters. It’s like we are all cousins to one another and share a bond together that is as thick as blood.

On this feast day, please say a prayer for Virginia and her family. And my prayer for you and for me is that we–like Mary and Virginia–be vessels of the holy.

A recent event at my IHM Motherhouse reminded me of some of the reasons why I love being Catholic … how we as a Catholic community are deeply ritualistic and how we celebrate the many vehicles of grace no matter how mundane.

The event was the homecoming of the new IHM Motherhouse bus. On Wednesday the bus (we’ve never had a bus before) arrived at the Motherhouse and was blessed by our friend Father Bill. Truly this bus will be a vehicle of grace for us because it will give our sisters more mobility to get around. It has room for 14 passengers including 2 with wheelchairs.

How cool is it that the sisters took the time to thank God for this bus and to have it blessed!? That they did this helps me to remember that all things are sacred and are gifts from God. How is a bus sacred? This little bus was made by talented people from the goods of this earth — the talents and the goods of the earth are gifts from God. And, the bus will be used to help sisters continue to be active with others in the world around us.

What seemingly mundane thing is a vehicle of grace for you today?

See my November 10, 2006 post

Commenting on Jen’s comment in my last post, I mentioned that it was hard to answer the question “who is Mary for me?” because throughout my life I’ve had different impressions of Mary. There’s the Mary I grew up with — the statue-esque Mary who is lily-white enameled, calm and serene, but also otherworldly, untouchable and frozen in her statue-esque form. I liked this Mary but I really couldn’t connect with her.

One of the only image that I connected with was of the Pieta — that beautiful sculpture by Michaelangelo of Mary holding Jesus after he had been crucified. For some reason, even as a child, I could connect with Mary because I felt so badly for her. Here in this sculpture, the woman who seemed unconnected to me and to everything was now holding her son and I could only imagine the very human emotions that were coursing through her heart. This image gave me a new insight into and love for Mary.

Then there’s the Mary I’ve gotten to know since I was in my early 20s. I began to see that all the many, many “versions” of Mary out there — e.g., Black Madonna of Częstochowa, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of the Wind, Madonna Della Strada, Our Lady of Fatima, and so on — bespoke a Mary who aligns herself with the people, whether they be fishermen sailing the Mediterranean or shepherd children in Fatima. I have always thought how cool it is that Mary has been rendered in so many different ways because she finds a way of connecting with people.

The image that has the deepest meaning for me is the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Since becoming a Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (our full title as IHMs), I’ve wrestled a bit with what this image means to me. The Immaculate Heart of Mary has a strong devotional meaning to it, one which I’ve never really been able to connect with. Yet when Sisters talk about what the Immaculate Heart of Mary means to them, they remind me that Mary was a woman of heart — it was through her heart that she cared for Jesus and for others; that she pondered the things that were happening to her, her son and the world; and that she suffered as she saw her son rejected and killed. This the Mary that I connect with, the one who is willing to have her heart pierced for the sake of God. She is the woman who continues to reach out to all those whose hearts have been pierced through suffering, war, poverty, and violence.

I am so proud of my nun!  In addition to her ultra-coolness on the Vatican/Canon Law/Religious Life scene, she is also one of the most holy, gentle women that I know. I have great respect and affection for Sharon.

Read on …

IHM Sister Wins International Medal
Aug. 28, 2007

Sharon Holland, IHM, one of the first female lawyers to work at the Vatican, was awarded the International Medal from St. John’s University in Rome on July 15.

Sister Sharon, a canon lawyer, is the bureau chief of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life at the Vatican, a position she has held since 1988. She is one of the highest-ranking women in the Vatican.

The International Medal is given by the university in recognition for service to the global Church. The citation for her award says Sister Sharon “models what is best about religious life.”

She holds a doctorate degree in canon law of the Roman Catholic Church from Gregorian University in Rome, one of the first American women to do so. In the citation, St. John’s University calls Sister Sharon one of the world’s leading canon lawyers. She has taught canon law at Catholic University of America; Regina Mundi Pontifical Institute in Rome, a theological institute for women; the Pontifical Urbaniana University; and St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Mich.

She was also delegate for the religious office of the Archdiocese of Detroit, serving as a consultant on canonical matters, and was an auditor for the Archdiocesan Tribunal.

Sister Sharon is a member of the Canon Law Society of America and an internationally known speaker on matters of canon law and consecrated life. She has published more than 30 articles, including two which appeared in The Code of Canon Law: A Text and Commentary.

(article source)(photo source)

This past weekend I had the honor of being part of a gathering of the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the 3 Immaculate Heart of Mary congregations (Monroe, Scranton, Immaculata). We met at the Immaculata Motherhouse in Pennsylvania. From Chicago this should be a mere 2 hour flight. But due to mechanical problems, our plane was delayed 7 hours (yes, 7 hours). It was pretty bad, but I actually got along quite well as I had Teresa of Avila’s Life with me. So aside from the increasingly irate grumblings of fellow passengers, I had a rather nice time. It was like spending the day with a dear friend. We conversed, shared our experiences of prayer and of God, and had nasty airport food. Good times! (Well, except for the last thing … and fyi, Teresa may be a Doctor of the Church, but not so great at helping me with Sudoku.)

When I finally made it into Philadelphia, my dear friend Mary Anne (Immaculata IHM) picked me up and we headed to the motherhouse. Most of the other nuns we were meeting with had already gone to bed after cheering on the Phillies to victory over the Nationals. But they saved dinner for us and we chatted with a couple sisters before heading to bed. In the morning I went for a walk. Our founder Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin is buried at Immaculata, and so I went to the cemetery to spend some time at her grave and at the grave of a dear IHM. When I returned to the motherhouse, I got ready for Mass and was thrilled to see the sisters from my Monroe congregation and the other 3 congregations. This is a group that I met with last year (here’s my post about that gathering and the history that binds our 4 congregations together). As with the last gathering, this one was joyful, prayerful, and so thoughtful. These women are just amazing. I am in awe as I experience the Spirit moving among us.

After being out and about in the world and being involved in my ministry, it was so nice to be “home” among sisters. There is a certain energy, a certain spirit that exists “whenever two or more are gathered” (to be biblical). These women are truly family to me and just being with them lifts my spirit, encourages me on the journey, and helps me be present to God who is always with us. I wish I could better articulate what this experience is like but words ellude me.

Teresa of Avila seemed to be with us that weekend too. I ran into some beautiful paintings of her at the motherhouse. I’ll have to share with you some of her writing especially on religious life. Stay tuned!

The Detroit Free Press recently published an article about my nuns, the IHM Sisters of Monroe, Michigan. “Sisters Go Green at Home: Monroe-based order explores science, faith with renovation, publication of booklet” by Gregg Krupa (September 19, 2007) is about our IHM Motherhouse which we recently renovated (by necessity) with great sensitivity both to our sisters needs and to sustaining the earth. Here are some quotes from the article:

The motherhouse is one of the most environmentally prominent buildings in the United States. It was named one of the top 10 green projects in 2006 by the American Institute of Architects. The Environmental Protection Agency gave it a Clean Air Excellence Award, and, last week, its 2007 Energy Star award for religious congregations.

So far, 6,000 people have toured the home to learn about the faith-driven meeting of construction and global warming.

This month, the teaching order published “Four Stories: Integrating the Universe Story, the Christian Story, the Earth Story and the IHM Story.” The nuns hope the work demonstrates how melding scientific discoveries with Roman Catholic theology and their personal declaration of a “spirituality of kinship with all members of the Earth community” yields a devotion to God that is both vibrant and worldly.

In “Four Stories,” Sister Mary Ellen Sheehan, a theologian, and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary embrace the current scientific account of the universe and evolution, as well as the Christian story of faith and the history of their order.

“We hope it will generate many conversations and fresh ideas for a global, inclusive world view that makes greed, war, racism, classism, sexism and other imbalance on earth unthinkable,” the Leadership Council of the order says in the preface.

Care for God’s creation — people, animals, plants, land, air, water … everything — is nothing new to our Catholic tradition. Today we are learning new ways to use science and technology to help us care for the world. These learning also help connect us with others — the people in our city and neighborhood, architects, contractors, carpenters, scientists — to help us live out our faith vision.

“We’re educated women,” said Sister Joan Mumaw, vice president of the order. “Most of us have master’s degrees and PhDs. So, even today, even though we have sisters in their 80s and 90s, we are still learning theology in the light of new science, in the light of new understandings. If you believe that Jesus took on human form and human life, he took on all of it — not just being in church.”

To read the entireDetroit Free Press article and see pictures of my nuns and motherhouse, click here.

To learn more about the book “Four Stories” or to order a copy, click here or on the book cover above.

I just returned home after spending a few days in Monroe, Michigan, with my IHM Sisters. On July 28 the Monroe IHM sisters all came together to celebrate Jubilee. A Jubilee is the anniversary of when a sister entered or professed vows in her religious community. We have a big celebration each year for sisters celebrating their 25th (silver jubilee), 50th (golden jubilee), 60th and 75th (diamond jubilee) anniversaries.

Click this link to see the 2007 IHM Jubilarians or this link where I explained more of what this day means in our congregation.

I wish I could communicate to you the feeling of what it is like to be home in Monroe with all of my nuns. It is electric. It’s like the air is charged with IHM energy. It is pure delight to see one another and have a chance to say hello and catch up. Walking around the motherhouse is like Christmas morning to a child. There are wonderful gifts around every corner — a beloved nun you haven’t seen in ages, your formation buddies, the president of the congregation, a nun burning rubber on her scooter. Though I may not know all of the sisters well, every one I run into is my sister, someone who is part of me as I am a part of her.

One of the reasons why I think Jubilee Day is so special is that we have no other agenda than to celebrate our sisters and our life together. It is a day built on connecting with one another, delighting in one another, and having fun together. For myself living out on mission in the diaspora, this time at home with my nuns is so important. I feel like I am immersing myself into the heart of the congregation, into the very IHM spirit. Every moment, every step, every connection is like a prayer for each one of us recognizes that we are bonded together by the Holy Spirit and by our commitment to the liberating mission of Jesus Christ.

I love my nuns very much and am grateful each and every moment for their lives, their encouragement, and their commitment to our mission and our community.